Rainbow Union’s semesterly drag show is returning on April 18 from a fall hiatus due to budget cuts — but this time it’s off campus.
“Unfortunately, we can’t hold it on campus, but we are still going to be able to do a spring drag show at The Garden,” said Rainbow Union president Kenji Sazawa Bachmann.
The Garden, a LGBTQ-friendly nightclub in Des Moines’ East Village, is hosting the event because they have a permanent stage for performances. In past years, Rainbow Union has contracted outside help to set up a stage in Parents Hall in the Olmsted Center — an operation no longer possible due to cuts to Unity Roundtable’s budget last fall.
Rainbow Union received a one-time funding request this semester from Unity Roundtable to compensate performers and the sound operator at The Garden. While Rainbow Union does compensate the drag queen performers, it’s a lower amount than they would receive performing for their usual audience. Drag performers also rely on tips they receive during the show. For Rainbow Union’s drag show, all the tips they collect support a LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization.
Members of Rainbow Union are excited to put on the drag show in Iowa’s current political climate.
“It’s such a heavy time to be gay and trans in Iowa, so I think that being able to do the drag show means a lot to me personally,” said Darcy Lentz, a member of Rainbow Union. “I think it means a lot to the community. I know that the queens personally really, really love being able to help.”
Lentz, a drag show performer themself, said the opportunity to perform in college during the Rainbow Union drag show was “really freeing.”
“The first time I ever did actual drag and came up with my persona, like my name and my look, was actually here at Rainbow Union,” Lentz said. “It was such a welcoming feeling to be included. All of the queens could tell that I was nervous, and I said, ‘Oh, it’s my first time performing,’ and they really hyped me up. It’s just overall a very welcoming and very freeing space to be in to practice art.”
Sazawa Bachmann and Lentz said they are always pleasantly surprised by the attendance at the drag shows. Past shows have seen a turnout of upwards of 300 people.
“Every year I always have to turn up the sound because the audience is screaming so loud, and every year I start the sound higher than I think I’ll need to, but I still have to turn it up,” Sazawa Bachmann said.
Sazawa Bachmann and Lentz said it’s important to have events like the drag show, despite cuts to student organization budgets.
“When you’re able to have the money to do things on campus and get campus directly involved, it spreads your reach and it spreads that joy and the movement towards creating a more diverse experience on campus,” Lentz said.
Sazawa Bachmann said that diverse events like the drag show make students feel represented.
“When we don’t have those opportunities, I really think it kind of reduces the joy around campus,” Sazawa Bachmann said. “There’s just less opportunities for fun.”
Even though this year’s drag show is not on campus, Rainbow Union encourages students to use the DART bus for free with their student ID, and they plan to organize carpooling so students don’t have to worry about traveling downtown alone.
Rainbow Union meets Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. at the CAYA House, and the drag show will be Thursday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m. at The Garden in the East Village.
