Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: A&E

Media Credit: Derrick Manuat

The lights fade in the Dunham Hall theater, and the audience of the packed auditorium turns its attention towards the stage, where a star-spangled blue backdrop comes into focus as the opening notes of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" blare. A blond woman in a short, green military miniskirt and matching top strides onto the stage in high heels, lip-synching the song as she dances her way into the audience, flipping her hair and teasing people she passes.

The spotlight follows her as she makes her way back up to the front, and she is followed by a man in a white fraternity shirt and camouflaged pants, who offers her a folded dollar bill as she slowly steps up the stairs. She takes the bill and resumes her dance on the stage, flirting with the people in the front row as she completes her number and vanishes behind the curtains.

The audience applauds loudly, but not simply because they appreciate her dancing. The real act tonight involves four men who impersonate women, and one woman who impersonates a man.

The Delta Lambda Phi's "Queens Across America" professional drag show has just opened to an enthusiastic audience.

DLP President Morgan Morris said this is the first time the fraternity has ever sponsored a drag show. DLP planned the event as a fundraiser kickoff to their annual pledge week, but they also decided to offer students $1 off the price of admission if they brought a canned good, which would be given to a children's charity in East St. Louis.

"We decided to do this to get our name out there, and the performers' names out there," Morris said before the show.

Morris and his fraternity brothers were easy to pick out of a crowd that night. They all wore white T-shirts with their fraternity's Greek letters emblazoned across their chests and camouflaged pants.

"Our theme is kind of a USO theme, so some of the songs are going to be USO. That's why we're all dressed in camo," Morris said. "Plus, this kind of leads into our rush, because rush is next week for us, and this is part of our rush event." The theme this year: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Just Rush."

Morris said events like the drag show are necessary to reach out to students who are not aware of the fraternity's purpose.

"We are going strong. Our membership's strong," he said. "We are gay, and we are bisexual progressive. It's hard for us to get our numbers up sometimes."

Continued...

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