When drag first came to UP in 2022, the event broke fire code. The organizers of the show, the Gender and Sexuality Partnership (GSP), didn’t expect as large of a turnout from the UP community. Yet audience members were pooling out of the Pilot House. Now, three years later, the art of drag is still coming to UP during an especially tumultuous time for the LGBTQ+ community.
What started as a collaboration with Pilots After Dark has turned into GSP’s largest standalone event, according to GSP President Ben Wolff. They explained the importance of bringing drag to campus not only for entertainment but to celebrate LGBTQ+ identity and queer joy among the UP community.
GSP Vice President Leonidas Grimshaw shares this perspective, considering the longstanding history of drag in Portland.
“We are at the epicenter of this type of art,” Grimshaw said. “We [GSP] felt it was very important to bring that to campus, not only just to increase exposure, but also for queer students on campus; to make that space and allow them to interact with that kind of play of gender and fun that drag encapsulates.”
GSP will continue this tradition with its fourth annual drag show on Feb. 14 in the Buckley Center Auditorium. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the event begins at 7:30 p.m.
The show is free and open to all members of the UP community, and seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Poison Waters, a local drag queen of over 30 years and this year’s grand marshal for Portland’s 2025 Mardi Gras Parade, will be performing for the fourth time. She expressed that continuing to return to UP is an honor, especially during a time when the LGBTQ+ community is facing increased scrutiny.
“We have a lot going on in the world that's targeting the LGBTQ community, specifically the drag community, and especially the trans community,” Poison Waters said. “All those folks need a big extra dose of good love and attention.”
This year's theme is Valentine’s, chosen by Poison Waters herself. She encourages attendees to come in their glitz, glamour and costumes for dancing and music to celebrate the queer community.
She will also be performing alongside returning drag queen Pluto, and drag queens Ilani and Sativa, who have never performed at UP before. While tipping is not required, it is customary.
As the event approaches, Grimshaw looks forward to featuring queer visibility among the UP community.
“Queer people are here,” Grimshaw said. “We are at this school, and we deserve the same amount of consideration for our interests and our culture and our passions and our art and our play as anyone else.”
Kaylee Monahan is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at monahan26@up.edu.
