By Kensi Freeland
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— The LGBTQ+ community is prominent on campus. With a number of student organizations to choose from, there are a handful of LGBTQ+ friendly ones. One being PRIDE, or People Respecting the Individual Differences and Equality.
“Definitely get involved with organizations because mental health issues are a real thing, and it will be a make or break for you,” Garrett Ford, University of Arkansas student, said.
Ford is a fellow member of the LGBTQ+ community and his college experience was a big eye-opener for him. He felt a lot more freedom in Fayetteville.
“Fayetteville as a whole is accepting and welcoming,” Ford said.
The University has even taken the extra steps to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community by hosting a Drag Show in the Ballroom of the Student Union.
Defined by TransEquality.org, Drag is a type of entertainment where people dress up and perform, often in highly stylized ways. The term originated as British theater slang in the 19th century and was used to describe women’s clothing worn by men.
Local Drag Queen, Stone Bowen, has been performing at C4 for over three years with the stage name Porsha.
“It [first performance] was such an exhilarating feeling. I felt like a different person; I felt on top of the world. I was so happy,” Porsha said.
Porsha loves drag because she loves to entertain and impress the audience. She refers to drag as an Artform.
“I love the show. I love being able to wear what you want. Big hair, big makeup,” Porsha said.
All it took was watching one drag show with an older sister to ignite the flame inside Porsha. One month after turning 18 is when Porsha performed for the first time.
“I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I first went on stage. I was very very terrified, and I didn’t do all that well,” Drag Queen Porsha said.
Even with a rough start, Porsha would not change her rise to drag fame for anything in the world.
“I absolutely love love love doing drag. It’s one of the best things I ever decided to do,” Porsha said.
Drag is exciting because nobody ever knows what a drag queen is going to come onto the stage looking like. They’re always full of surprises.
Porsha hopes for people to be more open-minded and realize that everything is all for fun.
She also encourages all people interested in the LGBTQ+ community and/or Drag to reach out and make connections. The University has a number of organizations that make reaching out easier.