(Photo courtesy Julie Sage) ““Pictures of the drag queen performers from the Drag Brunch event. The drag queens from left to right are: Shakaren, JustJP, and Zon Legacy Phoenix.”
Julie Sage
Connector Staff
The Drag Brunch, hosted by the Office of Student & Family Support Services and the UML LGBTQ+ Center, happened on Saturday of Homecoming Weekend. It was anything but a drag. They hosted three amazing drag queens, Shakaren, JustJP, and Zon Legacy Phoenix. The performances were great and the audience’s cheers were loud throughout.
When many think about drag, they think of men cross-dressing. However, drag is much more than that. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, drag is “entertainment in which performers caricature or challenge gender stereotypes (as by dressing in clothing that is stereotypical of another
gender, by using exaggeratedly gendered mannerisms, or by combining elements of stereotypically male and female dress) and often wear elaborate or outrageous costumes.” Any gender can do drag, and they don’t have to dress in clothing of the opposite gender. It’s open-ended and inclusive. The performances were a fun experience, and the Drag Brunch was a perfect example.
Some moments stood out. Two of the drag queens, JustJP and Zon Legacy Phoenix, did different quick changes. During JustJP’s first routine, they quickly pulled off their top dress to reveal another underneath. During Zon Legacy Phoenix’s first routine, she turned away from the audience and removed her robe. She did a little shimmy while turned away, then threw the robe aside to reveal a bright pink leotard with tassels. Another highlight was Shakaren’s second performance, where she dropped to the floor during the song Toxic by Britney Spears. When she came back up, she did three huge hair flips in a row.
After the performances, the LGBTQ+ Center hosted a meet and greet where the audience could get pictures with the drag queens. Almost every audience member got in the line which wrapped along the room’s walls.
Shakaren started drag at 16 when she saw her friends doing it. She loves drag because it makes her feel confident about herself. According to her, drag is “everything I love. Hair, makeup, fashion, performing. It’s all of that.” Her drag style is based on the early 2000s, like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan. She does drag part-time when she’s not doing her day job. She said that doing drag, however, pays more.
JustJP has a history of performing on stage, starting when they were about 1 year old at their church, reciting self-written poetry. After they moved to the United States from El Salvador, they looked for other ways to perform. They experimented with makeup when they were about 10 years old and continued learning more from their friends and clubbing. About 6 years ago, they got into drag. They also find drag to be a confidence booster, saying, “I strive to feel how I feel in drag when I’m not.” They also brought up that the money they get from drag is important. They do drag as a full-time job, and it pays their rent and helps pay the bills for their cat.
Zon Legacy Phoenix started with dance, which transitioned into drag. She is a professional dancer who started in high school and went to college for dancing. She’s currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Dance Performance and Education. Drag, for her, is a great way to express herself, but her favorite thing about it is making people smile. She said, “I like making someone’s day. And I feel like when I perform, it’s like the way people smile at you and the way they giggle or have fun, or you just know you made someone’s day that time. Like this event, I know for a fact that we made someone’s day, and they’re going to be talking about this all day, if not all week. Just making someone’s day, that’s what I do it for.”
So, what are the drag queens’ final message to UMass Lowell students? Try out drag for yourself if you’re interested in it. Remember, drag is for everyone. You can transform yourself into anything that you want to be. However, Zon Legacy Phoenix brought up a point that drag is a political statement because of where drag started and how it opened the door for many LGBTQ+ youths. It’s partially to show that it’s okay to be who you are and to help build that environment to treat people nicely. JustJP says, if you do drag, practice humility. Some people get caught up in the glamour and the clout, but it’s important to be nice to people. Because as JustJP said, “being nice is free, and we should be nice and respectful to everybody around us.”
