fridav, april 16, 2004
---
news
the university daily kansan 3A
Pride Week opens with drag show
March, rally will bring light to queer issues
Radio show host and local celebrity drag queen Flo flaunts herself for the crowd during last year's Brown Bag Drag Show. The annual event will be held again in front of the Kansas Union at noon today.
By Marc Ingber
minger@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Taking a cue from the Doobie Brothers, the queer community will be "Taking it to the Streets" this weekend.
This afternoon, Queers and Allies will host its 11th annual Brown Bag Drag Show at the Kansas Union Plaza. The show will be followed with a pride march and rally down Massachusetts Street tomorrow afternoon. Both events are a part of Queens and Allies' Pride Week 2004.
The drag show, which runs from noon to 2 p.m., will be hosted by drag queens Valerie Dolls and Robyn Banks. The show will feature eight to 12 performers, some of them KU students, strutting the stage in drag.
"Dressing up is putting it mildly," Jimmy Manning, Liberal graduate student and co-director of Queers and Allies, said of the show.
The performers will bring their own outfits, many of which they created themselves.
The drag show, which usually draws nearly 1,000 people, is one of the most popular events of Pride Week each year. Manning said.
"It's something everyone can get involved in," he said. "Straight people can totally embrace it and become part of the gay world."
One reason the show draws such a crowd is because it takes place at the Kansas Union in the middle of lunch on a Friday afternoon, said Tyler Watkins, Lawrence resident and event coordinator for Queens and Allies.
watkins said the drag queen subculture was an important part of queer history. Tomorrow's show fits in with the themes of the week by exposing gay culture to the masses, he said.
Another way Queers and Allies is trying to get exposure is with its pride rally and march tomorrow afternoon. Participants will start at 1 p.m. at South Park and walk down Massachusetts Street to Watson Park, where they will hold the rally. About 30 to 50 people are expected to march.
Several speakers will be at the rally including Manning and Sarah Katheryn Burris, Lawrence junior and co-director and outreach chair for Queers and Allies. Queer of the Year and Ally of the Year, who will be named tonight, will also speak.
Burris said she would address same-sex marriages.
"It's not just a gay issue," she said. "It's a human rights issue."
She said she was pleasantly surprised by how many allies participated in the march to show their support in past years.
"It's something everyone can get involved in. Straight people can totally embrace it and become part of the gay world."
Jimmy Manning Co-director of Queers and Allies
"It will make a lot of people do a double-take, if nothing else," said Lucy Ash, Jacksonville, Fla., freshman and co-secretary for Queers and Allies.
She said even if people on Massachusetts Street didn't want to join in, they would at least be more aware of the group's cause.
Edited by Amanda Kim Stairrett
PRIDE WEEK 2004
CLOSING EVENTS
This year's theme is "Racism Sexism and Homophobia: Can't Hold Us Down"
Today:
Today:
11th Annual Brown Bag Drag Show, noon to 2 p.m. at the Kansas Union Plaza
GLBT Dance and the 2nd Annual Queer Awards, 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.
Tomorrow:
Pride March and Rally, 1 p.m.
Marchers will march from South Park to Watson Park on Massachusetts Street
Queer Comedy Night, 7:30 p.m. at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union
By Jodie Kraftt
jkraftt@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students to compete for Mr. Black Love
Tonight is Philander Wade's first male pageant, but he's ready to perform. The Tulsa sophomore has picked out his formal and casual wear, practiced his song and dance for the talent portion and thought of potential answers for the question-and-answer session.
Wade and three other contestants will be part of the Black Student Union's first Mr. Black Love Competition at 8 p.m. in the Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
Wade said he had participated in talent shows and music competitions since 10th grade but he had never been in a male pageant. He said he was honored to participate in tonight's pageant because it was the first for the Black Student Union.
Tonight's competition was organized primarily by freshman members. Rona Remmie, Kansas City, Mo., freshman, coordinated the event. Remmie said she wanted to do a male pageant because it was something a lot of people hadn't seen on campus before.
Karissa Clinton.
"It's not every day you get the chance to show your talents," Wade said. "I'm taking it seriously but not too seriously."
"I wanted to honor a male from campus because they aren't as honored as much as they should be," Remmie said. "And I wanted to bring in a whole different crowd and to intrigue people to come back next year."
C'Nea Hatches, Valparaiso,
Ind., junior, said she was going to
the pageant because it was something new and because pageants were typically for women.
"I think people want to see what it's about, to see what the guys will do to win the competition." Hatches said.
The pageant will begin with an introduction of the contestants,
"I wanted to honor a male from campus because they aren't as honored as much as they should be"
Rona Remmie Coordinator of Mr.Black Love Competition
who will be dressed in casual wear. The talent portion is next, followed by the question-and-answer session with the contestants in formal wear.
Remmie said only one question would be asked, but it would challenge the men.
"The question was designed to keep contestants on their toes," Remmie said. "It will tie everything together, and they'll have to show the judges why they're doing what they're doing."
Two faculty members and two students will judge the competition. Remmie said she didn't want to name them because she wanted to surprise the audience and competitors.
"I wanted my judges to be a diverse group and I wanted them to be all female," she said.
The winner of the competition will receive the title of the first Mr. Black Love, a crown and gold cup. Every contestant will also get in free to the Black Student Union party, which begins after the pageant.
Wade said he didn't know what his chances for winning were.
"But I wouldn't mind going for it again if I didn't win," he said.
Edited by Henry C. Jackson
MR. BLACK LOVE
PAGEANT
**When:** 8tonight
**Where:** Alderson Auditorium,
Kansas Union
**What:** Contestants compete in
casual wear, formal wear, talent
and question-and-answer
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN The student voice.Every day.
PRESENTS
"BACHELOR"
BOB
GUINEY
Fill out an online survey at kansan.com for a chance to meet & get a rose from "Bachelor" Bob Guiney, or tickets to his show at Abe & Jakes April 20.
1