Gayla, a fantasy-themed drag show, was hosted by the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) to further build and bring together the University of Kentucky’s LGBTQ+ community.
Held at the Gatton Student Center on Friday, April 11, the event featured six professional drag queen performers and food for attendees.
President of GSA and a junior public policy major, Carson English, said the event provided a chance for students to be involved with the LGBTQ+ community.
“It’s such a great community builder for the queer community at the University of Kentucky and in Lexington in general,” English said. “We have all local friends coming in to do this, so it’s a nice way to have fun, build community and show a part of queer history.”
According to English, the drag show’s fantasy theme allowed for audience members to connect with one another and have fun at the same time.
“A bunch of people are coming together, getting together to share in a performance, share in the fun that is this night and kind of everything that we’re doing,” English said. “People are gonna sit around tables and talk and maybe meet someone you don’t know.”
Taylor Lake, whose professional drag name is Viktor Diamond, was one of the performers at the event. Lake, who has been performing for four years, said they learned how to perform after the drag king Xavier Diamond “took them under their wing and taught them the ropes.”
Lake said they enjoy playing around with gender in their drag, saying doing androgynous drag, along with king drag, helps them express themself.
“I hope that I can inspire people in the audience to be true to themselves, because if you’re not, you do yourself a disservice,” Lake said. “You will live a much happier life if you are authentic to yourself.”
Lake said they grew up in a sheltered environment, saying they did not make their first queer friend until college, which inturn led them to discovering they were queer themself.
“Building your community is not instant,” Lake said. “It’s having chosen family and having people around you that support you at all times, but that comes with time and wisdom.”
Event host and drag queen, Braya, said it was her fourth year participating in the event, and said it was important to stay together as a community.
“It is literally so important to show up, show out, represent community, represent your friends, your loved ones, honey,” Braya said. “We are in a crisis at the moment, and we are fighting every single day, so we gotta have each other’s back.”
Isabella Baker, a cosmetologist from Northern Kentucky, said this was her first time seeing a drag show and that she intended to attend more in the future.
“I’ve not been involved in many pride events,” Baker said. “The community is cool because I’ve never been to an event like this, so I think that’s super sick.”
According to Baker, the event served as a reminder that people in the LGBTQ+ community are never alone.
“It just proves that there are people out there . . . since it’s not a super open state, it can be really hard because you don’t know (if) there’s anybody behind you,” Baker said. “But seeing a community like this makes you feel like you’re not alone.”
