Students and professional impersonators lip-synched their hearts out Friday night for Louisiana Trans Advocates’ Spring Fling Charity Drag Show at Splash nightclub.
About 125 attendees paid $5 for tickets, and portions of the proceeds went to Louisiana Trans Advocates and Spectrum, the University’s LGBTQ organization.
Louisiana Trans Advocates is a statewide organization that aims to strengthen transgender communities across the state.
The show included six student impersonators, four community professional impersonators and one belly dancer.
Performers volunteered to participate in the show, and the only payment they received was tips from audience members.
Mathematics senior Mary Catherine Roberts and mass communication senior Katie Perry assumed the drag monikers Phil Latio and Ben Dover to perform The Lonely Island’s “Dick in a Box.” Both wore button-downs and eyeliner mustaches.
Perry said it was her first time taking part in a drag show and that being dressed as a man was comfortable aside from making her chest flat.
Roberts said she was most excited about having a great crowd and filling Splash with people to raise money for Louisiana Trans Advocates.
Lauren Sarrazin, biology freshman, played the character Mikey Bieber, who entertained the audience with Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”
Community impersonators performed two numbers for audience members.
The character of Alexa Malano was played by female impersonator Rami A., who requested his last name be withheld. He said he volunteered for the show because he has a close transgender friend.
“Female impersonation is a Shakespearean art brought back to modern times, and it’s a form of expression that should be understood,” he said.
Micah Caswell, treasurer of Louisiana Trans Advocates, said the funds for the show will go toward getting recognition for the organization on the federal level and more advocacy programs.
The Spring Fling Charity Drag Show was Louisiana Trans Advocates’ first charity event. Caswell said the idea for the show came from Capital City Alliance, a Baton Rouge LGBTQ organization, which hosts an annual drag show that she planned last summer.
Shane Cone, geology junior and the president of Spectrum, co-hosted the show.
Cone said Spectrum has been a part of Louisiana Trans Advocates, and he wants Spectrum to continue to support the organization.
 
—-
Contact Marylee Williams at [email protected]