An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890
MONDAY
10.01.2018 Vol. 219 No. 030
Calendar
October is LGBTQIA+ History Month. Here’s what’s happening at Iowa State in celebration.
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LGBTQIA+ History Month
GILLIAN HOLTE/ ISD
Ames PrideFest celebrates second year BY MIA.WANG @iowastatedaily.com
SARAH HENRY/ IOWA STATE DAILY Drag queen Taystee Addiction accepting tips from the crowd during her performance to a Beyoncé mix track at Delta Lambda Phi’s third annual Yellow Rose Drag Show at the Great Hall on Saturday night.
Yellow Rose Drag Show ‘It has grown into the most amazing thing’
BY MARIBEL.BARRERA @iowastatedaily.com On Saturday night, drag queens performed at the Yellow Rose Drag Show hosted by Delta Lambda Phi fraternity. The show was hosted by Ima Moista Toweletta Beaverhausen from The Blazing Saddle in Des Moines, Iowa. It featured performances from seven queens in total, many from The Blazing Saddle. Others came from farther away, including one performer from Burlington, Iowa, as well as another from Texas. Each queen performed their own routine of dancing and lip syncing. The night began with a performance from the host herself. Beverhausen rose to the stage and gave a sultry lip sync performance of Get The Party Started by Shirley Bassey. She wore five wigs to create a baby pink beehive hairdo. “I used to hate drag,” said Robin Graves, one of the drag queens. “I thought it was super weird. And then I saw [a performance] one day and I was like ‘They’re so fabulous. I want to do that,’ and I kind of did it as a joke. I was really bad, and my bra fell off. And then I was like ‘Let me try it one more time,’ and then I [thought] ‘OK maybe I’m good at this.’” Graves has been doing drag for three and a half years. As a dancer, she sees drag as just another form
SARAH HENRY/ IOWA STATE DAILY Iowa State junior Carlos Santos gets up on stage after encouragement from the crowd at the end of the Delta Lambda Phi Yellow Rose Drag Show and struts his stuff to the tune of Uptown Funk in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union on Saturday night.
of self expression. “It’s really cool to not be yourself sometimes,” Graves said. “I think that when I’m in drag and when I’m not in drag, I am two different people. I can be whoever I want.” Another performer, Taystee Addiction, of Burlington, Iowa, donned a platinum blonde wig alongside a pink and black bodysuit and silver kneehigh boots. For one of her performances, she chose an EDM mashup of songs by Kesha. All of the proceeds from ticket sales, as well as
tips received by the performers, were donated to The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization aimed at suicide prevention for LGBTQIA+ youth. In addition, Derrik Wallace and Paul Hengesteg, the president and treasurer of Delta Lambda Phi used the event to promote resources available for potential at-risk members of the LGBTQIA+ community, both on-campus and off. By the end of the night, the show had reached their goal of more than $3,000 in donations for The Trevor Project.
The second annual Ames Pridefest attracted more than 1,000 people of all ages and identities on Saturday in downtown Ames. The event featured drag performances, drag queen story time and a gay men’s chorus performance. There were also dozens of vendors who provided services to attendees. Ames Pride, a non-profit organization, hosted the event. Mara Spooner, co-chair of Ames Pride, said they first decided to organize a pride festival after the fall 2016 election. “At that time, a lot of us were anxious and nervous and wanted to do something productive with that energy,” Spooner said. “We saw that there were not a lot of organizations in the queer community outside of campus.” As an organizaiton, Ames Pride was formed after the first PrideFest at Bandshell Park. “After the event, we took a step further and formed Ames Pride as a non-profit organization,” Spooner said. “Ames Pridefest has become one of the signature events of Ames Pride.” Spooner said being in a place that is perceived as more conservative or less-inclusive makes it more important to organize events like this so that people have a space to “be visible and to just be together.” Ames Pridefest offered free branded merchandise. It also had various vendors at the event, such as food trucks and commercial vendors. “We want people to know they have a place in Ames they belong to and feel a little bit connected to their home,” Spooner said. “To let them know that they are not here alone, and there are people who love and support them.” Sarah Mansell is a stay-at-home
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