University students were treated to Divas Live! Saturday night in the LSU Student Union’s Cotillion Ballroom. Six performers from New Orleans, Lafayette and Baton Rouge took the stage in what was the University’s first professional campus drag show.
The show was organized by Bill Mattera, associate director of Residential Life, in coordination with campus groups Spectrum and Qroma, two LGBTQ student organizations at the University.
Mattera said he wanted to create an LGBTQ-specific event that students didn’t have to organize themselves.
“While Spectrum and Qroma have been involved since the beginning, I want them to just enjoy it and not do a ton of work,” Mattera said.
Mattera said he hoped the show would be a fun, easy entry for straight, cisgender students who do not know a lot about LGBTQ culture to come to a social event and interact and get involved.
Drag shows typically take place in gay bars and clubs or at private events. Because this show was held at the Union, students who are unfamiliar with LGBTQ spaces could experience an art form unique to the community in the comfort of the University’s campus.
For most of the performers, this was not their first time performing at a college campus. Lady D. Andrews had performed several times at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Mattera held events similar to this at other universities he worked at before coming to Louisiana.
Andrews said the performers were all mindful of their song and apparel choice to make sure the event is pleasant for all ages. Andrews’ own thirteen-year-old niece was able to come and watch her perform for the first time Saturday night.
After nearly fourteen years of performing, Andrews said she has seen a large shift in the public acceptance of drag.
What she and many others consider an art form was much more taboo just a few years ago, and the event at the Student Union was a positive step in allowing more people to learn about the LGBTQ community.
Andrews said she hopes performances like Divas Live! will open people’s minds and encourage more people, LGBTQ or not, to attend drag shows in LGBTQ spaces.
“This is a wonderful opportunity as entertainers to show what we love to do and share it, not just with a club, but [with] students and family members and a huge variety of people,” Andrews said about the campus event.
Other performers at Divas Live! were Brianna Powers, London Manchester, Myrahj S. Sinclaire, Santana Pilar Andrews and Roxie C. Black.
