Locals and students came together during the weekend to witness a roughly five-hour series of professional and amateur drag performers.
The Athens Ohio Area Drag Race, a fundraiser for Athens’ chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, was held at Stuart’s Opera House, 52 Public Square, Nelsonville, on Saturday night. Mimi Imfurst, a season three contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Columbus queen Vivian Von Brokenhymen hosted the night’s drag show.
Before the contestants even took the stage, the lobby was filled with vendors selling goods such as makeup and tiaras. Mitze Peterbilt, a queen outfitted in a long gold dress and a sparkling tiara, was working at the booth “Tina’s Tiaras.”
Peterbilt was a student at Ohio University from 1984 to 1988.
“I think the show is going incredibly well,” she said. “(When I went here) there was no outlet for gay culture.”
She added that attitudes had developed between when she lived in Athens and now.
The lineup alternated between RuPaul performers and local contestants, all of whom performed lip-synch numbers, although Imfurst initially sang live. The acts varied from Broadway songs to Jennifer Lopez mixes to one performer who came out wearing large peacock feathers.
The champion of the drag race was Sami Sparxx, an OU student who bested 10 other contestants. She performed to Fergie’s “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)” from The Great Gatsby film soundtrack.
“All the girls have potential to go further,” said Christian Larkin, one of the organizers for the event and the treasurer for PFLAG. “Every contestant brought their A-game, but (the judges) thought Sami brought the best (show).”
Larkin said he saw a varied crowd in the opera house.
“Overall, I think the crowd loved it,” he said. “It was PFLAG reaching out and doing an event that everyone will enjoy because of the entertainment side. … I know the RuPaul girls were in awe of how much fun they were having with the audience.”
One of the professional performers was Amaya Sexton, a seven-year drag performer. Sexton’s routine featured plenty of tricks, including one-handed walkovers in five-inch heels.
Among the glitter and the laughs, the hosts made sure to focus on the organization — including auctioning off a volunteer’s clothing for the cause.
“PFLAG is important because they help families,” said Imfurst, who was placed with a family by a Maine chapter of PFLAG after she was kicked out of her home at the age of 15. “(That’s) at the core of what it means to be an LGBTQ (person).”
eb104010@ohiou.edu
@EmilyMBamforth
Updated 10.22.13
