PMS reigns in community-building drag

What brings the world together is world peace and drag.

This is the attitude of Shaka Kwan, Seattle drag queen and one of this year's hosts of the annual Gay Bisexual Lesbian and Transgender Commission (GBLTC) Drag Competition held in the HUB Ballroom Friday night.

Though all performances were crowd-pleasers, other contestants fell short of defending champion PMS.

PMS won first place with Cherry Daddy Popper coming in second and a group led by Sebastian Pike in third.

The show began with Kwan's lip sync. As she danced among the audience members, the crowd quickly responded with enthusiastic cheers.

"I loved the atmosphere," Kwan said. "It's great as a member of the alumni to come back and be a part of this."

The host introduced members of the Q Center staff and the evening's competitors. One event pitted the sexes against each other in a boy vs. girl dance-off.

Audience members were in for a surprise mid-evening when ASUW President Cullen White came out to help host the event in complete drag and shaved legs.

"I can't believe Cullen shaved his legs," said senior Hannah Lommers-Johnson. "That's deep."

White's commitment to the show's success didn't stop there. He later pulled ASUW Director of Community Relations Sam Al-Khoury from the audience and challenged him to a drag queen competition.

How did White learn to walk in heels?

"I didn't," he said. "I had about 10 minutes to learn backstage before they brought me out."

Al-Khoury, however, felt quite at home in his outfit.

"I'm a natural in heels," he said.

ASUW Vice President Jerome McCuin was also part of the competition. To the audience's surprise, he was already dressed in drag.

The night continued with similar fashion as contestants Ms. Leyte Pataytay and Cherry Daddy Popper put on a pair of provocative and silly skits aimed to please the crowd.

Contestant Kuchcki followed up the acts with a much more serious statement on gay marriage.

He walked through the audience in a newspaper wedding dress, quoting Washington State Supreme Court rulings on gay marriage.

The sense of reflection was different than last year, when the competition was focused more on celebrating differences.

After the queens were done, the drag kings took over as Sebastian Pike, Justin Micheal and Skylar Blue performed a skit emphasizing perseverance to the music of Three Doors Down.

The show was not only a success in entertainment, but also in acceptance.

"It's a safe place here at the UW," Al-Khoury said. "People can celebrate who they are."

Reach contributing writer Kirk Strandjord at development@thedaily.washington.edu.