While drag is under attack nationwide, 5C students are cheering louder than ever. On Friday, Feb. 20, the Claremont Drag, Art and Performance Club, or more widely known as Claremont Drag, hosted Bad Romance: Kiki & Tea at The Motley Coffeehouse.
Classic Lady Gaga anthems like “Bad Romance,” “Applause” and “Poker Face,” along with relatively new hits like “One of Your Girls” by Troye Sivan, flooded speakers while drag queens and kings took turns on stage. Student attendees piled into The Motley, waving dollar bills and screaming as their favorite performers strutted down the aisle toward them.
The show’s “Bad Romance” theme was in response to an inundation of romantic celebrations on campus. For some students, those traditional Valentine’s Day celebrations can feel inapplicable to their lived experiences. “Bad Romance” took steps to reclaim the holiday.
“It’s the weekend after Valentine’s Day,” club co-president Yuankai Gao PO ’28, also known as Miss Cerebellum, said. “Single people are sad, aro[mantic] people are so done. Society has inundated this materialistic need to do something flashy or incredibly romantic on Valentine’s Day. The show [gave] people something else to look forward to and another source of enjoyment that’s non-romantic or queer.”
Gao’s words clearly illustrate that Claremont Drag shows provide more than just entertainment. For performers and students attending events, the club creates a safe space for self-expression and community.
“I just love being able to express myself in a way that is just so out there,” beginner performer EJ Chadbourne PZ ’29, otherwise known as Miss Demeanor, said. “You can do what I just did and fuck up your whole thing and still have a great time. I don’t know of any other type of performance where your entire costume falls apart, and you still have a great time.”
Chadbourne was not the only performer who experienced malfunctions. During “Bad Romance,” wigs fell off, performers stumbled and costume changes required some extra hands. However, the show’s imperfections only added to its charm.
“The drag shows that we host are a little bit messy,” Gao said. “They’re not purely polished, not like what you see on mainstream television. It’s that imperfection that I feel makes it a really important place.”
In fact, co-presidents Gao and Jordan Arroyo Cruz CM ’28, or Miss Amanita, prefaced the show by stating that when a performer falls, the audience must cheer even louder.
“We’re trying to remove competition from this community,” Gao said. “There’s enough infighting already within leftist spaces. When you get sucked into this deeply competitive mindset, it becomes unhealthy. It’s not what we as a club are trying to do.”
“I want to be able to do it here, because I know [there are] people who can’t,” Arroyo Cruz said. “It’s a privilege for me to be able to perform the way that I do, to receive support the way that I do… There are places where people are dying because of that, and so I want to be able to do that for them, and to continue to be loud and be proud.”
This culture of collaboration and support reaches into many aspects of the club. At Claremont Drag, new club members are mentored by more seasoned performers. When a student joins, they are taken under the wing of a “drag mom” or “drag dad,” and become their “drag daughter” or “drag son.” This mentorship structure provides both practical coaching and emotional and social support.
“It’s provided me an opportunity for mentorship, for building people up and seeing how they grow,” Gao said. “Seeing them feeling comfortable in their own bodies is just something that I cannot articulate through words.”
For some queer students, non-traditional kinship and chosen family can provide identity-based support when it is lacking at home.
“There’s a justifiable stereotype that a lot of immigrant households hold certain beliefs and cultural values that aren’t very conducive to their queer children,“ Gao said. “A lot of people are facing rejection of their queerness within their birth families, and as such, are seeking different spaces of kinship and mentorship amongst fellow queer individuals.”
Anti-transness and rejection of queer gender expression have been on the rise. Drag performance, in particular, has been targeted over concerns about exposure to children. Over the past few years, many conservative politicians from across the country have introduced legislation that would ban public drag performances.
President Donald Trump’s administration has only made matters worse. In January 2025, Trump issued an executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” an overt attempt at transgender erasure and an advancement of anti-trans rhetoric. To little surprise, in June 2025, GLAAD found a “dramatic rise” in anti-trans attacks.
For Arroyo Cruz, the founder of the club, today’s political climate and attitudes toward gender nonconformity are a driving factor in his involvement in drag.
“I want to be able to do it here, because I know [there are] people who can’t,” Arroyo Cruz said. “It’s a privilege for me to be able to perform the way that I do, to receive support the way that I do, to get funding from the administration the way that I do at [Claremont McKenna College]. There are places where people are dying because of that, and so I want to be able to do that for them, and to continue to be loud and be proud.”
Check out multimedia footage here!
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