Mother Natwhore and other performers, who are students at Eastern and Charleston High School, gathered in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union’s Grand Ballroom Thursday night to strut their stuff and draw attention to topics including conversion therapy at the Student Drag Show.

Mother Natwhore gave a trigger warning and had a text file playing in the background warning of conversion therapy during her number.

Initially appearing in a mannequin head, which she tossed off, she danced to “Heads will Roll” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and reappeared later in the show to send a political message.

Lady Gaga’s “Dontella” played upon her return to stage, and she did cartwheels and danced on a table.

She continued to dance and sprayed silly string into the crowd until she was stopped suddenly and led away by a robed figure. She was released back on the stage wearing street clothes and looked disoriented.

Thrashing angrily, a bible was shoved into her face while “O Come All Ye Faithful” played and eventually she collapsed.

Mother Natwhore said that she likes to incorporate political messages into her performances.

“I think of what issues I want to address and build off of that,” she said.

She said she pulled off her performance by zoning out and doing her thing.

Cherry Bottom took the stage donning all black and stripping down to just shorts, high-heels and a sports bra.

She tossed the money that the audience members offered her as she twirled through the crowd, ending her performance by doing splits and shaking her butt.

Cherry Bottom said that her moves were inspired by other drag queens and Christina Aguilera’s performance in the musical “Burlesque.”

Lady Deviant shocked the crowd by kissing a crowd member after “Voguing,”which is a style of dance, and cartwheeling throughout the performance.

During another portion of the show she appeared in a white corset and danced with audience members to “Who Run the World” by Beyoncé.

Lady Deviant said she thought about what it meant to be in drag when planning out her performance.

“The stereotypical image of a drag performer is tall and skinny. I fit the tall part but not the skinny. I wanted to show that I could do it too,” she said.

She said 95 percent of her performance was not choreographed and was all in the moment.

Another queen, Ze Sex Witch From Mars, announced they need an earthling for their last trick of the night.

Taking an audience member aside for a card game, they asked the crowd to memorize it and eventually tossed the cards into the air.

Drag queen Fantasia Blackheart performed in a leather jacket, wearing dramatic eye makeup.

She repeatedly shimmied and break-danced while tossing money through the air.

“Us queens like to feed off the energy of the crowd,” Fantasia Blackheart said.
The event was organized by EIU Pride and was the third rendition of the show.

Olivia Swenson-Hultz can be reached at 581-2812 or omswensonhutlz@eiu.edu.