What's the appeal of drag shows? Expression, community, awareness, entertainment and fun

Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis raised the specter of having child protective services investigate parents who take their children to drag shows.

Reactions have been polarized, but in the Pensacola area many drag performers say shows and pageants are an important avenue for individuality, entertainment and self expression. This Pride month, Pensacola's drag performers are welcoming the community to come and see for themselves.

On Friday, the Stamped Film Festival will be holding a drag show at Pensacola Little Theater at 6:30 p.m. during Gallery Night.

The festivities will start with Mayor Grover Robinson giving a proclamation from the mayor’s office recognizing Pride Month in Pensacola. Afterward, four local drag performers will perform family friendly numbers on the terrace of Pensacola Little Theater.

More Pride month coverage:

• Six years after Pulse, LGBTQ community fighting for a 'better world'

• LGBTQ Pride Month in Pensacola: Where to go and what to do to celebrate

• More to do: Craft Beer Fest returns; Doors legend Robby Krieger breaks on through

• Pensacola joins nation in cry to end gun violence during March for Our Lives rally

This will be an opportunity to show that Stamped and the queer community have spaces available for family friendly, queer content and queer entertainment to celebrate Pride month and make it accessible. Chesley Polk, a board member for The Stamped Film Festival, wants to provide an inclusive environment where people can appreciate the art form of drag performance, learn why performers do it, and show the complexity of the entire LGBTQ+ community.

“We would like people to come with an open mind and be able to experience the joy and the fun that a drag performance can have — also, for people with families to start engaging younger people with our community so that there's less of a stigma attached to it as they're growing up," Polk said. “It shows a new possibility for a different type of person that they may not have met before.”

Lauren Mitchell has been doing shows in Pensacola for 35 years

Veteran performer Lauren Mitchell has been doing shows in Pensacola for 35 years. When she lived in Gainesville, the performer needed a ride home to Pensacola. When they arrived, Mitchell stayed for a performance at a local bar. Mitchell won the show that night and was hired on the spot.

The prospect of doing enticing, flashy entertainment where all eyes were on her called to Mitchell.

“They were screaming, they were tipping. Of course you feel good,” Mitchell said. “I'm a Leo. I was the center of attention.”

She sees the community of drag performers as an array of styles from comedies, dancers, glamor and some are a mix of everything. She has seen people participate in the drag scene because they use it as a form of self expression that gives them the freedom to be who they want to be. Some enjoy the artistic side of it or just simply enjoy dressing up in drag. Some find out they're good at it and decide they want to make it into a career.

Having been in the community for so long, Mitchell said it has been good to see how not only Pensacola, but the entire country has become more welcoming. Shows like "Pose" and "RuPaul’s Drag Race" have helped bring awareness to the issues of LGBTQ people and drag culture to American television.

For Mitchell, the drag scene in Pensacola is an important part of Pride month that helps people understand the LGBTQ community and brings people closer to it, even those who do not identify with it.

“Pride is important for all the allies, all the supporters and for people that are standing with us,” Mitchell said. “Families that lost their loved ones to AIDS that they really don't know anybody in that community ... they come out because it's paying homage to their family member that they lost.”

Performing in drag shows has helped others with finding their own place in the LGBTQ+ community.

Erik Douglas remembers his first drag show four years ago

Erik Douglas, whose stage name is Aniyah Jade Oshanns, remembers his first drag show four years ago. It was 2018 and he was attending school at Pensacola State College when he found out the Gay-Straight Alliance was hosting a drag show. Douglas, who did performances with his grandmother in their living room, was always a performer at heart, but the thought of doing it in front of strangers was nerve racking.

When he told his friend and drag mother, Alastina Jade Samore, she told him it was no different than performances he did as a drum major at Pensacola High School.

In March of this year, Douglas participated in his show and for his first song chose Aretha’s Franklin’s “Can’t Turn You Loose.”

Douglas said from a young age he endured body dysphoria, a mental health condition where a person can't stop thinking about a perceived flaw in their appearance. He was told he was "too big" by partners, and as a Black member of the LGBTQ community said he felt ostracized. But on that day, he felt the magic of the moment and knew he loved performing and defying the odds of what a large, Black drag queen could do.

“They say that in the gay community, everybody loves everybody. Everybody is just very big and happy and glamorous, which isn’t true. We still have work to do,” Douglas said. “There's a lot of racism and body shaming in the gay community. And so, one of my main missions is to break that because at the end of the day, we are all the same. We all fight the same fight. It doesn't matter if I look different than you, we're all fighting the same fight.”

Matthew Harrell has done drag for the last nine years

Matthew Harrell, whose stage name is Kendyll Michaels, has done drag for the last nine years and been part of Pensacola scene for the last four.

During the day he works for the Navy and at night he does drag shows and pageants. For him it is not only a way to express himself artistically but also therapeutic.

It allows for an individuality he can not have in the Navy, where everyone has to wear the same clothes, act the same way, and be one cohesive unit.

It allows him to have that avenue for a stress release and find joy in what he is doing.

“Drag allows me to be who I want, when I want, where I want and how I want. It allows me to control everything that I want about that person, which is Kendyll,” Harrell said. “I can make my own clothes, I can make whatever outfit I want, I can wear whatever color hair I want, I can style whatever kind of wig I want, I can do my makeup however I want. And having that artistic outlet that allows me to be that person is what drives me to do drag.”

A native of the small town of Lakeland, Georgia, Harrell said he has never seen LGBTQ representation like has seen in Pensacola. Knowing that the mayor will recognize Pride Month in Pensacola is a huge step for the younger generation who are trying to find their authentic selves and a place to belong.

“It really changes the philosophical outlook on those individuals, especially the youth, who are learning who they are and still trying to figure out who they are. We need to let them know that it's okay to change your mind about things. It's okay to not be the same as you were yesterday,” Harrell said. “I believe that everything in life is on a spectrum, whether that be gender, sexuality, emotions or anything. Those change, and that's okay. And we need to make sure that they know that change is okay and to live within your authenticity and be who you are and enjoy yourself and embrace yourself for that.”

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gallery Night drag show in Pensacola celebrates Pride month