To some, the sight of junior Pedro Galvao wearing a bright green dress and a hat adorned with an assortment of bananas and apples may look odd on any other day.
But at this year’s Dragfest, Galvao’s attire was a common occurrence among the other young “drag-queens” and “drag-kings” that attended the event.
The annual dance, part of a week-long series of events from March 30 to April 3 and hosted by the ASWC-funded Coalition Against Homophobia (CAH), aimed to educate students about issues affecting the transgender community.
According to Galvao, who is also the copresident of the CAH, Dragfest offers an inclusive environment for those who want to play with gender norms or those who consider themselves transgender.
“Dragfest is a way for most people to break away from their proscribed gender roles especially in a campus that typically does not transgress them,” he said. “It is a way to try on the other gender for a night.”
Among some of the events planned by CAH during Dragfest Week was an appearance (which was later cancelled) by drag performer Brian Griffith on Tues., March 31, and a multimedia presentation on the history of drag and gender expression by Assistant Professor of Theatre Cindy Croot on Thurs., April 2.
But when the week dwindled down, the dance remained the focus of most students’ attention. Students rushed in and out of the Reid Campus Center Ballroom wearing one exaggerated costume after the other.
Sophomore Catherine “Cat” Stallwood-Valverde stood near the entrance of the dance in her crutches, wearing a tie and a men’s dress shirt. Stallwood-Valverde found the event to be an outlet for students’ free expression.
“I think it’s a day that everybody can be someone else, or they do not have to be what they are expected to be, ” said the bearded Stallwood-Valverde. “It’s a day where you do not have to feel ashamed for what you wear.”
Still, whether Dragfest actually encouraged students to talk about gender norms, transphobia was on the minds of some CAH members who organized the event. Although CAH co-president Liam Mina said he did not believe that Whitman students show “willful ignorance” toward people who are transgender, he still had “mixed feelings” about Dragfest’s impact on campus attitudes.
“I’m glad it happens, but sometimes I feel that people don’t think about it,” said Mina, a sophomore.
While Galvao acknowledged that the dance was “something fun to do on a Friday night,” he did not see it as endemic of the Dragfest experience as a whole. He said that Dragfest was still important in fostering dialogue about transgender issues and in pushing back the continued prevalence of transphobia and homophobia – even on the Whitman Campus.
“I had an interesting conversation with a section mate. He was initially averse to the idea of putting on a dress,” he said. “But then we while were talking about the whole concept of Dragfest and the whys of challenging gender norms, he said, ‘Yeah, it would be kind of fun to f*** with gender for a night.'”
“I think starting conversations about gender as a social construct and transgender issues is important. Making people step out of their comfort zones especially leads to interesting discussion and reevaluations of social roles,” said Galvao.
