It’s back — bigger, better and queerer than ever!
April 5 marked the New Paltz Drag Collective’s second Annual Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) Gala, featuring eight trans drag artists (one of whom was a special guest), art displays from trans student-artists, invigorating rounds of bingo along with a raffle for prizes — with proceeds being donated to the House of Precise, an Albany-based charity that fights LGBTQ+ youth homeless in the capital district and Hudson Valley — all hosted by the collective’s very own Diana Dysentery and Dirty Shirley.
The night opened with banter from the two hosts, welcoming guests to the show and speaking on what TDOV means to them. Even though it was a celebration of authentic expression and trans joy, Diana Dysentery, co-host of the gala and treasurer of the drag collective, pointed out that “Unfortunately, it can’t all be super happy and wonderful. As we all know, it’s a very scary time, a very volatile time to be a trans person in America right now, to be a drag artist in America right now, to be a queer person in America right now,” highlighting anti-trans legislation both proposed and passed in the past year, as well as identifying high-risk groups of transphobia and violence. Her determination did not waver with that in mind, as she underscored the importance of celebrating transgender people not just on Transgender Day of Visibility, which was March 31, but every day.
The performances reflected these sentiments, as each drag artist strutted up and down the aisle, drawing cheers and claps from the audience. Dirty Shirley set the bar high, opening the show with radiating confidence to wow the crowd, soon followed by Hymn Null, stunning the crowd with striking poses and immaculate, unholy energy. Diana Dysentery bore immense power with a trans flag for her number, with the names of tens of reported trans people lost to trans violence, acknowledging the many more whose names were left unknown. A cowboy BL8KE took the stage shortly afterward with an acoustic guitar in hand and a powerful song of grief. Gerard Slay, in Janus-esque fashion, scampered in exaggeration, summoning amusement and delight from the crowd. The doctor was then in with Kas Trate, medical bag in hand, scrubbed in and ready to perform sex-reassignment surgery. The show could not go on, until Scarlet Rose entered the ring, the gala’s guest performer and local trans drag artist, with the show-stopping performance of a lifetime.
After a brief intermission for bingo and a few artist reappearances, the crowd welcomed Ellis Dee’s debut performance, which was gut-wrenching and purposeful in movement. Finally, Scarlet Rose returned to finish what she started, in a bold statement of power, self-love and resilience, closing out the night with poise, charisma and a starstruck audience in the palm of her hand.
“Part of why we started doing this last year was that we wanted to have some type of trans event on campus that allowed us to celebrate and to perform in a way that was authentic to us and represented who we are,” Dirty Shirley, co-host of the gala and PR officer for the drag collective, told The Oracle. Being the second annual event, attendance was much higher, and the collective was given room to experiment. The inclusion of a guest performer was something new to the gala, but something that the club had in mind for a while. Shirley said, “We knew that we wanted to hire a local drag artist, because they deserve to be booked.”
Performers’ personal meanings of Trans Day of Visibility tended to be a complex mesh of emotions. For Kas Trate, being both a trans person and drag performer, Trans Day of Visibility is “both for the individual, individually recognizing how proud you are being trans and how lucky you are to have this experience, but also for the community.” Overall, he expressed that its overall message shows people that “there are so many people going through different things, but you’re still able to help each other.”
Diana Dysentery touched upon her own difficulties post-show. She said, “We are hyper-visible, especially trans kids and trans women, are the target of a lot of attacks … It feels almost like we’re being robbed of this day that’s supposed to be for joy, for celebration and for loving each other.” Diana Dysentery added, “that only strengthened my connection to the trans community and my commitment to protecting and uplifting trans people.” These particular nuances and complexities further emphasize the purpose of having this gala in the first place for the club, not only as a statement of authenticity and self-love, but a statement of pure existence.
The time, energy and love poured into their performances made for an engaging, exciting evening at the Terrace, with the crowd members coming to congratulate and praise the performers. Diana Dysentery described that moment as “the best feeling in the world … when someone comes up to you and says that was a great show or your performance was really great.” What’s even more great to her, is when a person says, “I really want to try drag. I want to join Drag Club.” She expressed her excitement for new members, “Even if you’re brand new. Even if you’ve never put on makeup in your life. Even if you’ve never been on a stage in your life.”
While the two hosts’ drag journeys started at different points, their love and passion for the performance blossomed, celebrating not only drag itself, but taking charge of their identities as trans people and artists, ready to watch the next generation of New Paltz drag members find their stride.