When entering The Perch the evening of April 11, students didn’t come across the typical ping pong tables and yellow-toned lights. Instead, they found themselves greeted by shimmering rainbow streamers, disco ball balloons and LGBTQIA+ pride flags adorning both sides of the stage. These decorations, standing out against the dimmed and packed room, were for St. Joe’s annual drag show, hosted by SJUPride and Hawk Hill Productions. 

The show’s theme was “Drag Queens of Pop” and featured Nashville-based queen Jaidynn Fierce, best known for competing in season seven of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Other performers included Philly-based queens Sutton Fearce, Stefani Steel and “Golden Girls”-inspired queen B.E.A. (Beatrix Eglantine Aurthurson), and returning St. Joe’s alum performer Jill T. Pleasure. 

Clare Joyce ’25, drag show committee co-head for SJUPride, said it is important to “provide an educational experience on what drag is.”

“One thing we did leading up to the show is, we made a post about the history and importance of drag because a lot of people truly don’t understand what it actually is,” Joyce said. “I think knowing can sometimes help fight those negative views on what they think it is.”

The term “drag” dates back to the 19th century and historically refers to performances where an individual wears clothing stereotypically associated with a different gender, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy organization. Drag has long been considered a form of creative self-expression and resistance by the LGBTQ community, with drag balls providing safe spaces for LGBTQ people and drag artists serving as prominent LGBTQ rights leaders.

Students in attendance included first-time drag show attendees and long-time drag fans. Emma Hendrickson ’26, who has attended drag shows in Philadelphia and Chicago, said her favorite part of drag shows is the environment. 

“I like the atmosphere the most, everyone screaming and the support for all the dancers and the performers,” Hendrickson said. “There’s just so much positivity in the air, and it just makes you feel good for the rest of the week. It’s such a magical environment.”

Elizabeth Lee, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology, said she attended the campus drag show last year and wanted to come again this year to show support.

“It’s an event that I really love attending to be in queer space,” Lee said. “It’s super fun. And to support, particularly this year, even more so than usual.”

Proceeds from SJUPride merchandise, such as pride flags and stickers sold at the show, were donated to Project HOME, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit centered around combatting homelessness and supporting individuals fighting poverty. Two representatives from Project HOME, JuJu Bey and Markese Williams, performed to music and spoke to the crowd. 

In Philadelphia, about 40% of unhoused adults identify as LGBTQ, according to Project HOME. The fundraiser centered around Project HOME’s Gloria Casarez Residence, which provides LGBTQ-supportive and affordable housing for young adults from the ages of 18 to 23. The initiative is named after Gloria Casarez, an LGBTQ and civil rights activist who advocated for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness and died of cancer in 2014.

“It’s super important that we have organizations like Project HOME around because there are those groups like the LGBTQ+ community, we just need a little bit of extra support, especially in times like this when the resources tend to be taken away and public support for them is not too great,” said Patrick Branley ’27, drag show committee co-head. “We really just wanted to find an organization that was doing really great work, and Project HOME is that group.”

In addition to performances by the queens, the drag show featured its annual lip sync battle between student attendees. Four students, whose names were drawn at random out of a hat, lip synced and danced to Ariana Grande’s “Into You” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”

Sam Schugsta ’27, a member of the drag show planning committee and one of the event’s emcees, was in charge of the lip sync battles. Schugsta, who’s been a member of SJUPride since her first year, was drawn to the show from her long-time love of drag, which stems from her love of all things creative.

“It’s so powerful and so nice to see people just be their unapologetic selves,” Schugsta said. “It really does inspire me to do the same and be like, ‘You know what? It doesn’t matter what anybody thinks. You only get one life, you have to live it how you want to live it, and you’ve got to be the person that you want to be.’ Drag is the biggest inspiration for that within my own life.”

Carmen Andrade ’27, who performed in a catwalk competition hosted by Fierce and won after receiving the loudest cheers from the crowd, described the drag show as “one of the best nights of the whole semester.” Andrade said the supportive environment meant “everything” to her, and that drag “means being yourself and loving everyone.”

Fierce closed off the night with a few words of wisdom and encouragement, which included fighting hate with love and being a safe space for others. 

“You’re valuable, you’re worth it, you’re fierce and you’re absolutely amazing,” Fierce said to the cheering crowd.

Schugsta said that drag shows are important to have anywhere, but especially important at Jesuit schools like St. Joe’s, where there can be stigma about the relationship between drag and religion and a belief that the two can’t cross. 

“There are LGBTQ+ people who still want to continue with a religion or still follow a religion, and when the churches alienate them and tell them that they’re not welcome, it’s important to make spaces where they can know that the two can coexist,” Schugsta said. “With St. Joe’s specifically, the whole message of cura personalis, honoring the whole person, it’s a night where people can go and not have to worry about anything. Any baggage they have, they can leave it at the door. It’s fun, and it’s light hearted, it’s encouraging and it’s welcoming.”

The drag show and its public promotion, Branley said, shows that St. Joe’s cares about and welcomes its LGBTQ students.

“Coming into St. Joe’s as a gay man as a freshman last year, I was really scared about how accepting campus would be and if I would be able to find my place,” Branley said. “Becoming involved in SJUPride and getting to be on the planning committee last year and then getting to be the head this year, it really showed me that there are so many good-hearted people at the school.”

Joyce emphasized the importance of finding “pockets of joy” and fighting negative perceptions of LGBTQ people.

“Existence is resistance,” Joyce said. “Showing that we are here and we are queer is a statement of itself, and I think it’s a very powerful statement.”

Branley said the drag show is especially important in the current political climate, and, quoting a line from Joyce at the end of the show, said a message he hopes audiences take away from this show is that “we will never stop dancing.”

“We really, really just wanted to create a space where everyone who supports those communities and loves those communities could come together and have a celebratory, super fun night that shows that those communities’ experiences are completely valid still, even though society might try to make it seem like that’s not the case,” Branley said.

Tess Margis ’26 contributed to this story.