The GC Pride Alliance held its biannual drag show fundraiser at Buffington’s this past weekend. This event is one that the greater GC community looks forward to every semester. Tickets sold out three days before the performance, and the proceeds went to the Pride Alliance and the performers.

The host of the drag show was GC mass communications student Jenna Byrd. She started the show by reminding the audience to be courteous of the performers and those surrounding them. She also informed the crowd on how to tip the performers. The queens regularly made their way around the floor and bar of Buffington’s.

“Please tip the performers! Tips may be politely handed to the queens,” Byrd said. “Wait for them to approach and acknowledge you; read body language and do not approach a queen without their consent.”

After Bryd’s introduction, the show began. The first performer was Queen Alex Suarez from Athens, GA. She described herself as the butch queen of the South and was certainly the perfect choice for the opening act. After her first performance, Suarez welcomed the crowd and assured them that she would return to the stage during the second act.

The next performer was new to the drag show experience; however, he blew the crowd away with his enthusiastic performance. Remy Brant performed Lou Bega’s Mambo Number 5 and left the crowd in a state of utter excitement.

“He is not a ladies’ man, he’s an everyone’s man,” Byrd said.

Following Brant was Queen Charmaine Sinclair Dupree, the “glamour goddess.” She blew the crowd away with her divine and elegant performance.

The next queen, Misty Wind, was the youngest performer at the show. One would never know this was one of their first performances in drag. They exuded confidence and left the audience exhilarated.

The final queen was a fan favorite. She is the “Icon of Macon and reigning Miss Beauty of the South.” Queen Tangerine Summers has performed as a drag queen for over fifteen years. Her exhilarating performance included her interacting with spectators through the crowd and dancing on tables throughout Buffington’s. One would never know that she was 70 years old.

Ashlyn Simmons, a junior art major at GC, has attended the drag show since her freshman year.  She said that she looks forward to this event each semester.

“Queen Tangerine was my favorite of the night. To find out she was a 70-year-old performer was astounding, and her looks and performance reflected such professionalism and grace,” Simmons said. “It is just such a fun and positive night, everyone who’s a part of it remembers it as a fun and welcoming experience.”

After the show, Queen Summers said that she loves performing in drag.

“This is what I do. It just brings me so much joy performing,” Summers said. “When I tell the audience my age, it always makes me laugh to see their reactions. But I am a motherfucking Drag Queen and us queens can do anything, no matter our age.”