On Saturday, the College was visited by the Curbside Queens, a group of traveling drag queens and kings from Maine. It was not the first time that the queens have visited Colby, but this was the most important performance so far. The show took place on Homecoming Weekend, so students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni were all able to attend.
The show included performances from Gigi Gabor, owner of the Curbside Queens, along with Cherry Lemonade, Chartreuse Money, and the drag king, Finn Gerring. Several Colby students were also able to get on stage, both in terms of pre-planned performances or an audience participation section where students were able to volunteer (or be volunteered).
The Bridge, Colby’s club for LGBTQ+ students and allies, organized the event.
Alexandra Clayton `25, vice president of the Bridge, spoke to The Colby Echo about why having a drag show was so important to the Colby community.
She stated, “the drag show is important because I think there are a lot of serious issues that a lot of the queer community is dealing with and I think there are more fun aspects of the community that we need to highlight. It can be intense to always focus on the negative, so these drag queens not only are a fun thing for allies and the greater Colby community, but it’s also an opportunity for members of the queer community to let go and have fun.”
Colby has been very helpful when it comes to helping The Bridge put on events.
Clayton continued by saying, “we’ve been met with a lot of enthusiasm. This is the first year where the Bridge is fully funding this event, which is pretty expensive with the Queens and the DJs and everything. Nathan [Baird] has been super supportive and helpful throughout organizing and getting a hold of DJs and everything, so I would say they’ve been pretty supportive,” Clayton said.
The drag show is one of the ways that The Bridge is trying to engage the student body. After a few years of being only semi-active, Clayton and President Kevin Craig `24 are working to turn The Bridge into something that all students can be involved in. The drag show was a success with people from all over the College community enjoying it.
Victoria Ruan `25 was at the show, expecting to be just an audience member, but ended up volunteering to participate in the show with other audience members.
“It was super fun! I was lucky that most of the other people up on the stage with me were my friends, so we could dance around with each other! I wouldn’t have expected myself to participate since I recognize that I fit into standard feminine gender roles and don’t have to worry about how others would react to me expressing my gender in that way,” she said, discussing what that experience meant to her in terms of the whole community.
“The audience participation portion was a way for people to appreciate the performance aspect of drag and engage with the Colby community more.”
The Colby Echo sat down with two of the drag queens, Gigi Gabor and Cherry Lemonade, to discuss why it is important for events like this one to happen on campus.
“The cool thing about doing shows like [at Colby] is we get to show the student body that when you’re out in the real world then you can have any type of job you want. We do this for a living. This is our primary source of income,” Lemonade said.
Gabor, the owner of Curbside Queens, spoke about the origins of the company and what it has turned into.
“Curbside Queens was a response to the pandemic. We decided to take it mobile, so it could be outside and COVID-friendly, and we’ve been in so many wonderful, weird, and crazy positions and places that we never would have been without this business. We wouldn’t be driving a giant bus up to Colby twice a year to bring queer joy without it. It is fantastic and feels wonderful to visit so many people and see so many members of our community expressing joy.” Gabor said.
If you were not able to attend the show, do not fear! There are many ways to get involved with The Bridge in the future.
“We have a lot of programming coming up in October such as succulent potting. We’re also going to have a lot of programming in November, probably a day where we decorate cookies in the Spa to get the greater community involved,” Clayton said.
The Bridge also has weekly meetings for those interested in joining the club.
“Our meetings can range from more action-oriented, where we plan out how we’re [going] to tackle certain issues like possible queer affinity housing or transgender bathrooms, to more laid back meetings, where we get to know each other. I think it’s really important if you want to be involved in the queer community and the Bridge [to], just show up to meetings and the programming we have,” Clayton said.
The drag show was a celebration of pride and community and just the beginning of what The Bridge has planned for the future.
~ Mairead Levitt `25
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