A Vermont high school homecoming football game turned into a 'drag ball' runway at halftime, with a mix of students and faculty members parading in gowns, wigs, and makeup — and a big crowd in rainbow colors cheering them on.
The drag show took place at Burlington High School's Buck Hard stadium on Friday night, where Gender-Sexuality Alliance club organized the fun event.
As school cheerleaders wrapped up their routine, about 30 students and faculty members dressed as drag queens and kings — or a bit of both — walked out onto the field and the crowd started to chant, 'Drag Ball!'
Performers paraded and danced to show support for LGBTQ people, and also lip-synced to singer Todrick Hall's song 'Rainbow Reign.'
A Vermont high school homecoming football game turned into a 'drag ball' runway at halftime, with a mix of students and faculty members parading in gowns, wigs, and makeu
The drag show took place at Burlington High School's Buck Hard stadium on Friday night, where Gender-Sexuality Alliance club organized the fun event
After cheerleaders wrapped up their routine, about 30 students and faculty members dressed as drag queens and kings walked out onto the field and the crowd started to chant, 'Drag Ball!'
According to Seven Days, the show began with the 30 or so performers hidden behind blue fabric, which dropped as techno music blared out.
Students and teachers alike dressed up in over-the-top costumes, with dresses, jewelry, hair, and makeup.
'We got kings, we got queens, we got in-betweens,' an announcer's said. 'We need you to give it up for all these performers.'
Spectators in the crowd — who had been encouraged to wear rainbow clothing and showed up in colorful tutus, boas, T-shirts, and even body paint — cheered them on.
'Things went amazing,' said Ezra Totten, student leader of the Gender Sexuality Alliance at Burlington High School.
'The stands were completely packed,' he told the Associated Press. 'It was just so heartwarming to see.'
Andrew LeValley, an English teacher and alliance adviser at the school, came up with the idea.
Students and teachers alike dressed up in over-the-top costumes, with dresses, jewelry, hair, and makeup
Andrew LeValley, an English teacher and alliance adviser at the school, came up with the idea (not pictured)
Several performers said it was their first time in drag, with both male and female participants donning gender-bending outfits
'We had some people that are pretty involved in theater come in and talk about how you put on a persona,' he said.
LeValley joined students on the runway, dressed in a Shakespearean burgundy gown and a wig. He said he was inspired by Lady Macbeth and Marie Antoinette.
'I was just really hoping to give our students — who are both out and the students that were in the stands who are not out — a moment to shine and feel loved, and know that there is a place for them in public schools,' LeValley said.
Matthew Claeys, another Burlington teacher, also dressed up, wearing an all-gold look with a cape and wig. It was his first time in drg, but he had a great name for his character: Stardust.
'There was a degree of just letting go, and saying who am I gonna be as a queen? And when I adopted Stardust I was like gold smiles, throwing out kisses,' he told VT Digger.
Spectators in the crowd — who had been encouraged to wear rainbow clothing and showed up in colorful tutus, boas, T-shirts, and even body paint — cheered them on
A member of the club stressed that straight, cisgender men can dress in drag and it doesn't mean they are gay or trans
Thomas Sutton, a member of Burlington High School’s Gender-Sexuality Alliance, was also dressing in drag for the first time, and turned to his mom and sister for help.
'It took a while for me to find a dress that actually fit me, but I found a pretty killer one. It’s bronze and sparkly and I’m gonna have this octopus handbag and a cop hat,' Sutton said.
'It is scary to do it,' he added, 'and I worry about being accepted and stuff. But also, the first time I wore a dress I looked awesome in it. It’s fun and if people weren’t hating on it and worried about what this means, I think more people could have fun with it.'
Aria Batten, another member of the club, pointed out that dressing in drag doesn't make someone gay or transgender — straight, cisgender men can do it too, and it can be a fun way to explore different ways of expressing themselves.
'Just dressing in drag does not innately connect to the way your identity shapes,' Batten said. 'You can still be a [cisgender and heterosexual] man and do drag, but it can open gateways to doing gender expression.'
Athletic Director Quaron Pinckney was the one who suggested that the drag show be held at homecoming.
Pinckney, who is Black, said that the school gave him the space to 'uplift my voice' and that he was able to reciprocate and 'uplift the voices of another marginalized group and share a space in the athletics realm that doesn't normally get shared.'
Lauren McBride, principal of Burlington High School, said she heard a dad talking to his two sons at the game who didn't know that the drag ball was going to be the halftime show.
She heard him explaining to them what dressing in drag means, 'and it was like, "This is really cool,"' she said.
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