On Friday April 10 at 10 PM, the Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Peer Group will be hosting an event called Gender Blender for the first time. As this dance will replace QA’s annual Drag Ball for the time being, we want to clarify the purpose of Gender Blender and generate excitement for the event.
In the past, Drag Ball has frequently been an unsafe space for trans and gender non-conforming students. To many, mainstream drag has racist, binary-enforcing, and transmisogynistic tendencies, and participants at Drag Ball have too often reproduced these dynamics. Costumes have typically fallen into two or three distinctive camps of caricaturized gender expression. Closeted or gender non-conforming attendees have met the assumption that they aren’t “actually dressing up” or performing the “opposite” gender correctly. Finally, many trans people have been alienated by the performative aspects of Drag Ball, especially given that trans women are often assumed to be “performing” their gender in the same way a drag queen would. Overall, Drag Ball felt like an event by and for cis people, often at the expense of trans participation.
While some trans students wanted to eliminate Drag Ball entirely, others expressed support for the event. For some, Drag Ball was the only night of the year they felt comfortable dressing in a truly self-expressive manner. They could finally wear what they wanted to without the risk of embarrassment or social alienation. Drag Ball helped some people better understand their gender identity.
To negotiate between these two perspectives, this year we’ve created Gender Blender, which differs from Drag Ball in some key ways. Most obviously, we’ve minimized the drag associations. While drag is often founded on binary stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, Gender Blender implies mixed signals, leaving room for a variety of creative possibilities. Next, we’ve done away with the performance aspect of the dance, and we’re playing plenty of great music by trans and gender non-conforming artists. Finally, we encourage participants not to assume who is and isn’t “dressed up,” and what gender expression they’re aiming to embody. We hope this will make the event more comfortable and inclusive for everyone, but we expect to reshape our future guidelines with community feedback.
While Gender Blender centers trans, gender non-conforming, and questioning individuals, all students are encouraged to come. Cis people also benefit from the opportunity to try out a new form of expression. We encourage all participants to respect the purposes of the event and behave in a way they feel is inclusive and honorable. Most importantly, we want everyone to show up ready to dance and have a great time.