The Coming Out Week festivities at UB came to a rocking close Thursday afternoon with the annual professional drag show sponsored by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance.
The show, featuring familiar faces from downtown Buffalo's Club Marcella and other performers from across Western New York, was held in the Student Union, and served as a colorful conclusion to a successful weeklong celebration of UB's LGBT culture.
After a short delay due to technical difficulties, host Natasha Michaels channeled Britney Spears in a series of fun and enjoyable sets, with some fierce outfits to complement.
Michaels was adamant about audience participation, and worked all her charms to gain a hearty response from the crowd that filled the SU little by little.
Other performers included veteran drag queen Jayme Coxx, Beyonce-inspired diva Keke Valasquez-Lord, the reigning Ms. Adonias Bebe Bvlgari, the incomparable Fy'a Colby Valentino and Felisha Vega as a dead ringer for Mary J. Blige.
LGBTA Vice President Juan Pereyra, a junior nursing major, also gave an amateur drag performance of his own as his alter ego Krystal Titz.
As a whole, the performances were fierce, the outfits were stunning and the queens conducted themselves in a lively and thoroughly professional manner.
While the show's mood and its preceding events were decidedly laid back and fun, many UB students saw the more serious undertones that come with being LGBT on campus.
'Coming Out Week is a really great celebration of individuality in the UB community,' said Samantha Janosick, a junior social sciences major. 'All the events have been amazing. I'm thankful that the UB community has been so supportive.'
The LGBTA executive board had plenty of input on the success of the show and Coming Out Week in general.
'The purpose of Coming Out Week is to give a chance for all members of the LGBTQ community to express themselves freely and without limitations,' Pereyra said. 'This week was successful in that that desired message was delivered.'
Christopher Joya, a junior biology major and LGBTA president, appreciated the show and the queens' straightforward approach.
'It was a great intertwining of queer and straight communities,' Joya said. '[The LGBTQ community is] not going to go away and just be swept under some rug.'
Joe Nasby, a sophomore pre-law major, saw the performances in the Student Union as an opportunity for the drag queens themselves to be seen in a more up-close light.
'The drag show allows the heterosexual population to view drag queens as actual people, not mere caricatures,' Nasby said.
The show this year was met with a noticeable air of tension. Last year's Coming Out Week festivities were infamously marked by several Christian-centered protests, with condemnation of the homosexual lifestyle freely shouted across North Campus. This year, however, the e-board was prepared.
'[The protesting groups] had called several days beforehand, and they had intended on showing up,' said Zack Kelleher, a junior English and psychology major and LGBTA treasurer.
Pereyra expressed his disappointment at the absence of the opposition.
'It was nice they weren't here,' Pereyra said. 'But at the same time [the protests] were the spark of last year's show.'
Henry Lu, a senior art history and fine arts major and LGBTA events coordinator, was also open to some healthy opposition from the other side.
'We welcome all opinions,' Lu said.
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