Zoe Zahara answers questions from members of the WKU Queer Student Union during the Drag Panel hosted by WKU QSU in DSU 2084 on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Summer Crawford)

Students filed into DSU 2084 on Wednesday to learn about the experiences, hardships and joyful moments of being a drag performer. 

Drag Queens Rita Room, Queen Venus Knight, Goregina George, Zoe Zahara and Chanel Eclipse visited the members of the Queer Student Union to answer questions and discuss their experiences in the profession. 

The performers gave students advice on being themselves and how to discover their own personas. Performer Zoe Zahara shared about their experience of self-discovery after being a youth pastor. 

Members of the WKU Queer Student Union pass out flowers as a thank you to Queen Venus Knight during the Drag Panel hosted by WKU QSU in DSU 2084 on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Summer Crawford)

“I faced two years of religiously sanctioned conversion therapy that really pushed me to have the courage to say I’m gay, this can’t be prayed away,” Zahara said. “So when I started drag, what inspired me was seeing representation.” 

The performers said drag has helped them express themselves in an empowering way.  

“Whenever I started drag it was just such a safety blanket, and it’s armor to face anything,” Goregina George said. 

The floor was opened up to audience members to ask their own questions. The discussion heavily focused on the performers’thoughts about Ru Paul’s Drag Race.  The performers showing a love-hate relationship with the show. Rita Room has a bearded drag persona and notes a stark lack of representation for bearded drag queens on the show. Rita Room said they are in the process of applying for Ru Paul’s Drag Race to fix this problem. 

The QSU gave each drag queen flowers and a letter out of appreciation for visiting. 

The panel concluded with advice on how to explore self-expression. 

“I’ve been trying to be who everybody else wants me to be when I just need to discover who I am, and when you go on that discovery process, expression blooms,” Zahara said. “Your own voice is born.” 

Drag Queen Venus Knight, Gorgina George, and Zoe Zahara talk to attendees of the WKU Queer Student Union Drag Panel in DSU 2084 on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (Summer Crawford)