A+E

After concerns over safety canceled Lost Coast Pride's family-friendly drag fundraiser, the nonprofit switched up plans to put on an adults-only show at the Ferndale Repertory Theatre. The original family-friendly show finally took place at College of the Redwoods Saturday, April 29, before a packed audience of children of all ages. (See the slideshow by Journal staff writer Ollie Hancock below for highlights.)
Out front, where CR President Keith Flamer was awaiting the show and the arrival of his grandchildren, there were food trucks, vendors and information tables, with a campus security vehicle and staff at the entrance to the lot.

"We're in a bubble," promised performer and emcee Tucker Noir, dressed as an elf princess with a purple gown and pointed ears. In fairy godmother tones punctuated by giggles, she assured the audience the anti-drag noise was outside the bubble of the auditorium. Noir thanked CR for offering the space and for helping make the event educational. "Some of you right here in this room might not feel good about drag," she said. "And I want to say I'm glad you're here and I love you. ... We just want kids to be safe and happy."

Felix Flex wielded a candy colored sword and shield as Rose Quartz from Steven Universe, transforming a pink robe into a white princess dress midway through the song. During intermission, a little girl inched over to Flex in the aisle to say how beautiful the dress was and ask for a photo together. Aidan abet danced to a medley ranging from the Charleston to boy bands in an Orange Crush T-shirt and sneakers.

Lipsticked and mustachioed teen performer Brain Rot got the kids shrieking along while stomping and death dropping in a jumpsuit and combat boots, and LCP founder Kealan Rivera (aka Nasty Weather) took the stage as Disney warthog Pumbaa for a duet of "Hakuna Matata" with Diamond in the Storm as Timon the meerkat. There was a Monsters Inc. lip sync duet by Aiden Abet and Uncle Histamine, acoustic songs from Kiki Cosmos, poi spinning by Riley Rendezvous, a graceful, swirling sign language performance by masked Charlie Darling and rainbow flag twirling by Komboujia, who sang in a futuristic goth ensemble.

Britney Shears and Thrash and Recycling brought high drama, with high-heeled empowerment ballads and by crawling out from a cardboard heap to drop into splits, respectively

Throughout, Noir shared snippets of history. "First there was clothing, then there was drag," she said in once-upon-a-time sing-song, noting drag kings caught on later, during the Tang Dynasty. "Drag is the artistic and experimental exploration of gender," she explained. "I identify as a girl, whatever that means," she added, drawing laughter from the kids. "Drag is just dressing up for performance; everybody gets to do it," she said, noting that she has seen a drag artist take the stage as an angler fish.

After intermission, Noir returned to the stage with an updated look: skirt exchanged for pants and a five o'clock shadow on her face. "The outfit I was wearing earlier would be fine in Tennessee but the one I'm wearing now is a felony ... just because I put the eyeshadow on the bottom part of my face." Despite the ongoing moral panic, "There isn't a history of children being hurt at drag performances." Later, perched in a big, yellow wing chair, she led a sing-along to "The Rainbow Connection," while other performers swayed and sang with her from the wings.

Out by the vendor tables, Megan McVicker, whose child wore a colorful ao dai, said, "Anytime kids get to put on face paint and run amok, I have to take that opportunity." She said she's "pretty horrified that a segment of our population wants so sexualize [all] drag. ... I often see it as coded language to attack gay and trans people." At family-friendly LGBTQ+ events like Dragging Through Time, she said, "I see my kids learning to be kind to each other and respect their individuality."

McVicker's friend Emma Miller, who was selling her Danger Quilting stained glass, said that unlike when she's a vendor at other events with her kids in tow, both her father and her ex-husband, a disabled veteran, came by "to check in ... to protect our kids from the protestors, not the drag show."

The show ended firmly in the 1980s, with all the performers on stage for "We Are the World." Drag, Noir said from the stage, is not only in America. "Drag is everywhere in the world." It's not new, either, she reminded.

As Noir said at the start of the show, "Everybody was always wanting to do drag, you silly goose."