Drag queens- local, student and famous- took to the Student Center Ballroom to perform for a Kent State audience Oct. 17.

The drag show, put on by Kent Interhall Council, stood as part of Sex Week, a series of activities and workshops with the intent of educating students on sex.

“Sex Week is all about getting to know yourself and making sure that you’re safe,” Kaitlyn Jones, the director of programming for KIC, said. “Kent State is always known for doing stuff positively and out of the ordinary- having fun while incorporating the educational aspect.”

Turnout for this year’s drag show was among the highest seen in comparison to past Sex Week drag shows, Jones said.

“Sex Week is about sexual awareness, and it is about embracing your sexuality,” Kellin Wise, a freshman psychology major in attendance, said. “I feel like drag queens are apart of that because you don’t have to be straight to be a drag queen but you don’t have to be homosexual to be a drag queen.”

The show started with Ashley Adams Andrews, the show’s drag performer host, energizing the room before performers came onto the stage to lip sync and dance.

Throughout the show, some queens presented multiple numbers, dancing to well-known songs such as “Side to Side,” “Rake It Up,” and “Bang Bang.” The audience sang and danced along with the queens during their performances.

The Kent State queens held their own exciting appearances for their peers, including a medley of Katy Perry songs and a choreographed dance to “God is a woman” by Ariana Grande, which included eight backup dancers and chairs as props.

The queens frequently moved off the stage and into the crowd, where they danced up and down the aisles, involving the audience with their performances.

The audience waited for the much-speculated headline act of the night, a RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, to be announced. As the moment arrived, the audience went into an uproar when Kennedy Davenport, two-time contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race and season All Stars 3 runner-up came onto the stage.

While serving as an opportunity for entertainment, the drag queen performers wanted attendees to get a deeper meaning out of the show.

“I like how people are enjoying it,” said Alejandra J-Love, a drag performer. “We can entertain, but at the same time, these shows at the university can educate people.”

Andrews stressed the importance of Sex Week to Kent State and how this show can benefit students and attendants.

“We’re a voice for the community,” Andrews said.

Anna Smith is a general assignment reporter. Contact her at [email protected].