The newly opened drag school chapter at N.C . State, House of Electra, is presenting a Heroes and Villains drag show event to highlight the art of drag and educate about GLBT rights.

Admission is free to all students but is on a first come, first serve basis.

Along with North Bragaw’s Resident Advisors and Bragaw’s Hall Council, a group of North Carolina’s Finest Female Impersonators – The Raleigh Chapter of the House of Electra – and the GLBT Center sponsored the event. 

Samuel Byrd, residence director for the North Bragaw Residence Hall, utilized the event to support the West campus initiative to promote multi-cultural competence.

“The motivation for this event is to educate students about drag culture and issues facing the GLBT community,” Byrd said.

Drag culture itself has been portrayed in many films, such as Madea , Mrs. Doubtfire and White Chicks, and in television shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race.

According to Byrd, it is an art form that is comparable to theatre .

In fact, the term drag originally was a code in Shakespearian theatre as DR.aG – an actor who would “dress as girl” – because females were not allowed on stage, Byrd added.

“In my undergrad, I became involved in the GLBT student group and learned about drag performers from there,” Byrd said. “It is so much more complex that just wearing a dress and having your best girlfriend paint you up. There are meticulous details you have to be aware of and techniques to learn.”

At Friday’s event, Karma Electra, a female-impersonator who relocated from Hollywood and opened the House of Electra drag school at N.C . State, and other drag queens will demonstrate drag types in performance style and in stage makeup.

“I know many of my friends who idolize drag queens by how comfortable they are in their own bodies or because of their natural ability to get a crowd going,” Byrd said.

Information about Amendment One will also be discussed at the event by a GLBT speaker, according to Haylee McLean, resident advisor in Bragaw Hall. 

“We will encourage the students to become educated about this amendment and to do their civic duty and vote in May,” Byrd said.

There are University policies in place that protect students and staff from being discriminated against based on sexual orientation, Amy Circosta , assistant vice provost for Equal Opportunity and Equity, said.

Despite these policies, hate crimes have still been committed on campus, as seen when the GLBT Center was vandalized in October.

“Diversity is what we’re really trying to promote because a lot of students can be unwelcoming , like we saw with the GLBT Center, so we wanted to do something with them,” McLean said.

Treating everyone with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation, should be encouraged, Circosta said.

Students who attend have the chance to win prizes for Best Male and Female Hero, as well as Best Male and Female Villain. The Grand Champion also receives an iPod Nano , Byrd added.

A party will follow the show, which will include music by DJ SugarKane and a mocktail bar.

“I hope that, while it is fun, it will be very eye-opening in that they see people who dress in drag not as weird, but as actual people,” McLean said.

The event will be held in the Bragaw activity room on March 16.