Loyola’s third annual drag show began with a spectacular opening number featuring drag persona and host Retra Celeste. McGuire Hall was filled with excited students, passionately watching as the performances began. The show starred dazzling drag artists including DJ AAVE, Manic, and Sapphire Dupree.
Pat Cassidy, director of LGBTQ+ services at Loyola University Maryland, helped organize the event for students, and emphasized the importance of having drag show events on campus for students to enjoy.
Cassidy noted that on-campus drag shows help bring the student body together, embrace diversity, and help contribute to an environment at Loyola where every person feels welcomed, loved, and embraced.
“It’s about expression of self, it’s about speaking out against injustice and it’s about having a good time. It brings me so much joy, and I think it’s a really beautiful thing that people’s first experiences of drag is happening at Loyola,” Cassidy said.
The student-led crowd fully embraced the performers immediately after hitting the stage. Drag artist Manic beamed of the love and support received from Loyola’s student body.
“I would come back to Loyola in a heartbeat. It was one of the warmest audiences I think I’ve ever performed drag for,” Manic said.
Beyond the initial reactions of joy and happiness brought from the show, there was also a deep sense of belonging for many of the people in attendance. For many of the audience members, this was their first time experiencing a drag show, allowing them to be able to recognize how important and fun drag truly is.
“Experiencing my first drag show at Loyola with my peers made me feel more connected to the student body, which was so fun. I also really feel like it was a safe space for everyone which I really think is important,” Katelyn Khov ‘28 said.
The performances were momentous not only for those in the audience but for the performers as well.
Manic commented on how liberating and important drag is to many different people.
“It’s, like a version of queerness and transness, that’s, like, the biggest and most unafraid, and the most liberated, and the most free. And that feeling is contagious, and that feeling can be life-saving for a lot of people,” Manic said.
Cassidy also touched on how Loyola’s Jesuit identity has driven the university’s commitment to inclusivity. He emphasized that the Jesuit values are determined to uphold the dignity of all people and celebrate the diversity of life, which is what drag is all about.
“I think our institution has come to also understand how we can really name that we don’t do this work in spite of our Catholic tradition, but because of our Catholic tradition. And I think in our ability to be able to speak to that, we’ve really been able to strengthen this work and demonstrate our university’s commitment to this work,” Cassidy said.
This event was coordinated by The Spectrum Experience, LGBTQ+ Student Services, and Loyola Visual & Performing Arts. Make sure to keep up with them for more fun events on campus and also follow The Spectrum’s Instagram for upcoming events.
