Rainbow Alliance attracts kings, queens in drag

By 4 p.m., Aron Stone had used glue sticks to tame his eyebrows and was applying his first layer… By 4 p.m., Aron Stone had used glue sticks to tame his eyebrows and was applying his first layer of foundation. He was well on his way to assuming his stage persona, Svetlana, for the Pitt Drag Show.

“I think of her like another person. She’s my alter ego,” the Pitt junior said of his drag persona.

Each spring, drag kings and queens strut their stuff — and often take it off — in front of crowds of Pitt students. This marks the 15th year for the event sponsored by Pitt’s Rainbow Alliance, an organization that supports the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied community. Through the show, the group raised $1,350 to benefit the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, which works to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Pittsburgh community.

Performers began arriving in the William Pitt Union at 3 p.m. to set up the stage and catwalk in the Union’s assembly room and begin to get into character.

Stone tamed his eyebrows so they were less noticeable when he dabbed on his foundation and white make-up. After that, he contoured his face, using highlighting and rouge to make his cheeks appear higher and his Adam’s apple less noticeable. He then brightened his eyes with pink and purple eye shadows — to match his dress, of course. He said his make-up usually takes about an hour.

For sophomore Hannah Solkowitz, who turned herself into Sterling Quicksilver, the change meant putting on a sports bra for binding, sporting a wig and facial hair — which was cut from a wig and stuck on with spirit gum — as well as stuffing her pants.

“It’s so weird having something between my legs,” Solkowitz said.

Several hours later, at 8:20 p.m., as the drag kings and queens put on their final touches, students waited in a line that snaked from the auditorium doors into the Tansky Family Lounge.

When the show began, Dominique DeVauer, formerly Da’Ho and aka Dempsey Young, performed a strip tease to “Whip My Hair.” With each garment removed — silver sequined vest, see-through top, bead-fringed skirt — the audience cheered louder for the 2010 Pitt alum. Eventually she was down to a bra and thong.

DeVauer introduced the event as the “You did what with your genitals?” Show and brought on the second of 16 acts, a group of five kings dancing and lip-syncing to “F*ck You.”

The act included the second host of the evening, Dylan Dickhersoon, aka senior Dylan Drobish, who, after his number, explained along with DeVauer the tipping etiquette for the night.

The pair encouraged attendees to bring dollar bills to the stage and put them in the pants of the kings or the bras and underwear of the queens. For those too shy to do either, there were volunteers walking around with bowls. The audience could also simply toss money on the stage.

When she took the stage, Virginia “Ginger Snaps” Snapplestein-DeVauer, aka Cody Bienkowski, the first Pitt employee to come to the stage for the show, lip-synced several songs that constituted an ode to wealth. The drag queen, who, when not in costume, works in Pitt’s bulk mailing services, believes the drag show demonstrates how open the LGBTQ community is at Pitt.

“It lets students experience a part of gay culture that’s just really fun to have,” she said while getting ready backstage.

Her performance included “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend,” “Rich Girl,” and “Big Spender.” She sashayed down the stage in a corset she’d restitched backstage and a gold dress she’d crafted herself.

After that, there were strip teases, UV body paint that glowed under black lights, stuffed animal snakes pulled from pants and commentary from the hosts that provokedlaughter from the audience.

Christopher Crash, aka Kelly Coburn, a Pitt grad student, performed to “You Get What You Give.”

As audience members brought money to the stage, he grabbed their hands, looked them in the eyes and sang song lyrics like, “You’ve got a reason to live.” His take-home message came at the end, when he held up a sign that said “It gets better” on one side and “Make it better” on the other. As he displayed them, attendees cheered loudly.

The song came before DeVauer discussed the night’s issue, which was in a similar vein: LGBTQ teen suicides. DeVauer discussed her own problems with depression and bullying growing up, as well as Drobish’s difficulties. She also referenced columnist Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Project — a movement that established an online community that encourages LGBTQ teens with the message “It Gets Better.”