The Rainbow Alliance held their first annual drag show to raise money for their organization. They had four female illusionist or drag queens perform songs such as Unwritten by Natasha Beddingfield and Crossroads, from Dream Girls, by Beyonce Knowles.
Drag shows have been around since ancient Rome. They began to gain popularity after World War I.
The star of the show was Catalina who is the current Miss US of A Alabama. Miss US of A is a drag version of the Miss USA pageant. Catalina is a graduate of ETSU, with a degree in political science. “Someone came up to me in the club (New Beginnings, a prominent gay club in the area) and asked to perform in this and I gladly said yes to support this great cause,” Catalina said.
Another performer named Barbie showed her support for the organization. Barbie is a 65-year-old male-to-female transgendered who stole the show with her captivating dance techniques and her fun personality. “Just being up on stage makes me feel free,” Barbie said. “Follow your dreams, like I did, and never give up on them.”
Also in attendance were Ashlyn and Sophie Linux. Ashlyn is participating in New Beginning’s “Drag Idol.” She is still in the running to win. Both women had a way of getting the audience to love them by displaying their unique styles.
The Rainbow Alliance is a group for gay, lesbian, transgendered, bi-sexual and heterosexual students, staff and faculty.
Their goal is to provide political and educational support outlets to the campus community.
The Rainbow Alliance wants to promote the understanding, equality and affirmation of all sexual orientations. They welcome everyone to join and encourage people to not make assumptions about others because of their presence in the group.
Dustin Baker is the group’s event coordinator who organized the event. He had help from the Rainbow Alliance’s president, Tracy Eiswert, and the group’s faculty advisor, philosophy professor Keith Green.
Each member of the group has an option of confidentiality, meaning that those who join the group will not have their name or personal information disclosed to anyone outside the group. They are aware that some members my not be “out” outside the group.
The club meets on Mondays at 7 p.m. in Room 321 in Rogers-Stout.
They will be holding a movie night on Monday, April 2, at 6:30 p.m., showing the movie called “But I’m a Cheerleader.”
To contact the Rainbow Alliance you may email the group at Equal_Opportunity_4_All@yahoo.com or ETSURainbowAlliance@yahoogroups.com. They also have a Web site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheRainbowAlliance.
A hotline is called The Trevor Project is also avaliable for anyone contemplating suicide due to questioning their sexuality. It is open 24/7 and you can reach them by dialing 1-866-4-U-TREVOR.

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