The 2022 Drag Show is not happening

Canceled due to lack of participation from students in planning and performing

Megan Valadez / Asst. Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

After pulling off a very successful drag show via Zoom last year, students and faculty were excited to see the show back in person this school year. Unfortunately, that did not happen due to a lack of awareness that the show was possibly happening this year.

This year would have been the 11th annual Supreme Drag Superstar (SDS) show, hosted by the Diverse Sexualities and Genders Alliance (DSGA) on campus, but, ultimately, there was not enough student participation. 

SDS is an event in celebration of gender expression where students, faculty, and alumni dress in drag and perform their hearts out. Not only were there not enough students that wanted to participate, but student planners were also unable to secure a venue in time for the show.

The DSGA is USD’s first LGBTQ+ student organization, dedicated to creating community and pursuing social justice. They hold events in correspondence with the LGBTQ+ and Allies Commons with goals to create and foster a safe community for all. 

Though I think we have come a long way in our society when it comes to how people view the LGBTQ+ community, there is still an enormous amount of hate, especially on this campus, that is quite disgusting. Unfortunately, I think that has a lot to do with why some students might feel hesitant to participate in the SDS drag show. 

USD claims to be a diverse and inclusive campus, where people of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, sexes, and genders are welcome. I believe that is simply not the case on this campus. 

In October of 2019, a hate crime occurred on campus in the Valley A dorms. A first-year student, who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, had their dorm room door vandalized with transphobic, homophobic, and sexist slurs. 
When I heard about this heinous hate crime, I was, of course, disgusted and ashamed to attend a university where things like this happen. 

Being a straight cisgender woman myself, I have no idea what it is like to live in a world that thinks your very existence is wrong. But, after this hate crime happened on campus, I thought to myself, how many LGBTQ+ students have faced violence and oppression on this very campus? Over the last couple years, I have heard endless stories of the hate toward the LGBTQ+ community at USD, and I have seen with my own eyes the issues people have  with people simply just being and expressing themselves on campus.

I believe that it is possible that participation in the planning and performing of the SDS show was low this year due to the politics on campus regarding the LGBTQ+ community. But I also believe that USD needs to foster an inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community, and the drag show is one way of doing so. 

According to a faculty organizer of the event, Dr. Greg Prieto, there was only one confirmed student performer in March, who is also a student leader for the SDS. This student leader took on a lot of responsibility, mainly because there was not enough participation in the planning of the drag show. 

In previous years, the SDS shows received a lot of hate from alumni, some administration and students. Discussions were focused on the fact that such an event should be prohibited because it was a scandal to promote a lifestyle contrary to the teachings and morals of the Catholic Church, being that USD is a Catholic university. 

In an article posted to catholicaction.org titled, “An Eye Witness Account of the First ‘Drag Show’ held at the University of San Diego,” a devout Catholic attended the event and commented on how disgraceful it was to hold a show like this at a Catholic university. This author stated, “…the event was aimed at zealously fostering support and sympathy from the USD students for lifestyles which the Catholic Church considers to be disordered and immoral.” 

Although this article was posted in 2012 in response to the first ever SDS show, times are still not much different with regards to how the Catholic Church views the LGBTQ+ community. Even with same-sex marriage being legalized in the United States back in 2015, the Vatican has said that the Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex marriage.  
Similarly, 2016’s SDS drag show was also met with protests from students who gathered to pray outside the event because they believed the show celebrated a sinful lifestyle, according to a CBS8 article from 2016.

I believe that events like the drag show are not only entertaining, but educational, because they spread the message of acceptance, love and inclusivity. Yes, USD is a Catholic institution, and there are students who are Catholic, but USD needs to do better when it comes to ensuring that all students feel safe, wanted and included on campus, especially for LGBTQ+ individuals. 

When there are people on this campus that are so heavily opinionated about someone else’s lifestyle that they go to the lengths of vandalizing a student’s door and committing a hate crime toward a student, it’s no wonder students are scared to express themselves. LGBTQ+ students should not feel this way, at all. 

Overall, more student participation was needed for the SDS show to happen this year. Dr. Prieto said the students are out there for both participating and planning the show, and they just need to do a better job finding those students early enough in the school year. 

It is important to realize the value in this show. It’s a safe space for all people to communicate and express themselves. It is a valuable tradition that should continue. USD as a whole needs to do a better job in ensuring that all students, regardless of who they are, are welcome on this campus. 

We need to continue to show up and voice our support. I cannot begin to fathom how tiring it is to attend a campus where people simply hate you for who you are and choose to be. I imagine that those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community are exhausted to their cores, as it is damaging and draining to live in a world that does not accept you. Maybe if the university does a better job in regards to inclusivity, there would be more participation in events that try to give voice to the communities that are struggling to be seen and heard.