Students cheered and waved pride flags at the Cal State Fullerton Housing Piazza as dazzling performers took the stage for the university’s free annual drag show Thursday night, an event celebrating creativity, self-expression and LGBTQ+ pride.
Hosted by the Losquadro Keller LGBTQ Resource Center in collaboration with Rainbow House, the show provided students with a space to celebrate their identity and community through performances.
Organizers said the event serves as both entertainment and empowerment, encouraging attendees to embrace their individuality while fostering visibility and support for CSUF’s LGBTQ+ community.
“This is one event that’s part of National Coming Out Week, in which we do a whole host of events,” said Nat Betancourt Arellano, senior coordinator at the Losquadro Keller LGBTQ Resource Center. “All of it is really focusing on a diversity of identities, gender, expansive identities, drag, and what does gender mean and what does sexuality mean, and how do we create spaces where we’re inclusive of all the ways that people love and all the ways that people express themselves.”
The resource center has received generous donations from alumni and former staff members, allowing for a larger stage, additional chairs, proper lighting and even custom apparel handed out to the audience.
The show became a long-standing CSUF tradition, highlighting its connection to drag history and its ability to bring students together to experience drag culture on campus – many for the first time.
“I think the energy and the creative music and the sets and the costumes and everything, I think that drew people in, even if they’d never heard of drag,” said Nyx Blueford, a fourth-year cinema and television arts major. “I didn’t see a lot of hands raised initially when they asked if anyone had been to a drag event, so I hope this was a great first impression.”
Five professional drag queens from Divine Entertainment performed on stage, including two CSUF alumni. They were joined by three additional performers, one affiliated with the campus drag club and two who began their drag careers at CSUF.
Performers began the show on stage and eventually made their way into the large, energetic crowd, receiving shouts of excitement and cash tips, which are a staple of audience participation in drag culture.
“What got me into drag was watching, holding my phone recording them, giving them a tip, being like, ‘Interact with me, interact with me,’ because I just wanted to catch a reaction of me giving them my money,” said drag queen performer Freddie Vamp Deadd. “I went home, and I thought of that interaction that night; I just want to be that interaction that they think of that night before they go to bed.”
There was a wide variety of queens dressed in Halloween costumes to match the spooky theme. Queens dedicate time and effort to every performance, from applying makeup and rhinestoning outfits to executing captivating choreography while dancing on stage.
Beyond the glitter and performances, the event highlighted how drag can inspire confidence and foster a sense of community on campus. The show’s mix of humor, art and empowerment left attendees with a lasting message about self-expression and inclusivity.
“Hopefully, a drag show or any LGBTQ+ event can help not just for myself as queer, but for everyone else who is maybe afraid to come out as themselves authentically,” said Kelley Phan, a fifth-year linguistics major. “Everyone should be surrounded in a safe space for everyone, just so that they can be themselves.”