Drag Kings culture comes to Columbus

No family photo album is complete without pictures of the children playing “dress up,” with little boys strapping on mom`s heels or little girls trying on dad’s tie for fun. But when the kids grow up and it`s performed on stage, “dress up” becomes drag — and kings and queens are made. With a growing fan base on the entertainment side, and academic interest on the other, Ohio State hosted the second International Drag Kings Conference, from Friday through yesterday. Performers, writers and theorists from all over North America got the opportunity to share experiences with others interested in drag king culture. “I’ve really been doing drag since I was a little kid, so it’s second nature to me,” said Noelle Campbell-Smith, a drag performer from Toronto, Canada. Campbell-Smith, whose stage name is “Christopher,” attended last year’s conference at OSU as well. “Getting together all the various drag kings from around the country is great. It unifies all the different communities. There are all these little pockets of drag kings and I didn’t realize that there were so many of us until last year,” she said. Campbell-Smith has been performing drag for three and one half years on an individual level and with the Toronto Drag Kings troupe. Members of H.I.S. Kings, an all-lesbian drag king troupe based in Columbus, joined individual kings and troupes from around the country to discuss different aspects of drag king culture. Amy Friedrich, a conference volunteer and an OSU student activist, said, “This isn’t just something that is happening in Columbus; it’s international. Everywhere there are drag kings, but most of the time they never get to know each other. “I think it gives women a chance to express themselves and make a political statement,” she said. The conference kicked off Friday with an amateur night of entertainment called “Dragdom,” in which both men and women performed various “gender-bending karaoke” acts. On Saturday, the conference consisted of discussion panels, a Drag Kingdom science fair and an “extravaganza” at the Wall Street nightclub in which an array of kings performed for a packed audience. At the science fair participants had the opportunity to experiment with such things as facial hair application and binding techniques. “In general, I don’t think drag kings are very well-known. People are like, ‘you mean drag queens?’ --no, no, no drag kings. We’re creating a space for ourselves,” Campbell-Smith said.

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