New theme, raffle prizes, beneficiaries
Healdsburg High School’s Gay Straight Alliance will host its second annual drag show at the Villa Chanticleer on June 21.
The drag show has its roots in community activism. In 2017, Noe Naranjo, then a student at Healdsburg High School announced and began soliciting donations and performers for a drag show to be put on by the school’s Queer Straight Alliance club. The show was planned to be part of Pride Week, the school’s contribution to Pride Month, which is June.
The problem was, according to Healdsburg Unified School District Superintendent Chris Vanden Heuvel, the club hadn’t yet actually run it past school administration, and they had inadvertently scheduled the performance for June 1, in the middle of what is known as “dead week,” which is the week before finals, when no afterschool activities take place.
After some consideration, the students chose to host an event at Villa Chanticleer in Healdsburg, with assistance from Christian Sullberg and Ozzy Jimenez, the owners of Moustache Baked Goods and Mark Themig, the Community Services Director for the city of Healdsburg.
Last year’s show was packed as the standing-room-only crowd cheered on the participants, which included professional drag performers as well as amateurs and high school students. This year, a few changes have been made, and a theme added to the show. There will also be a raffle of items donated by the local business community.
“This year we asked the audience to purchase tickets in order to have a count of how many people would show up and make sure that it isn’t overcrowded,” Naranjo said. “We had a surplus of audience last year, such that most people had to stand up.”
The funds raised will not be kept by the organizers, but will go to a charity close to their heart. “The ticket sales do not go to Healdsburg High’s Gay Straight Alliance,” Naranjo said. “All of the money raised in the show from sales and the raffle are going to The Rainbow Railroad; an organization that provides support and helps LGBTQ individuals escape the horrors of Chechnya, Russia.”
According to the group’s website, “In response to the confirmed reports of abductions, detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and deaths targeting over 200 gay and bisexual men in Chechnya, Rainbow Railroad immediately went to action to assist those in danger. Rainbow Railroad has been working closely with the Russian LGBT Network, a non-governmental organization currently leading the campaign to rescue those facing danger in Chechnya.”
Naranjo said the show this year is expected to have a similar flow to last year, though they have added a theme this year: Fluorescence.
“There will be lots of love and light that night showcased within the venue and through the performances of the queens,” Naranjo said, adding that the line up of performers is not finalized yet, but that many of last year’s queens will return for an encore. “We’re having a lot of queens from last year step out once again to shine in the light,” he said.
Naranjo said tickets will stop selling one hour before the show, and that there are 200 open seats for adults and 100 seats for teens and kids. High school students do not need to buy tickets in advance, they can arrive with a valid student ID at the door and be seated in a special section.
Doors for the drag show open at 6:30 p.m. with the program beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $1 for students, $2 for all others and require an RSVP. They can be purchased online at https://hhsdragshow.bpt.me. Performers or volunteers can sign up at http://www.volunteersignup.org/KBTAW.
The Villa Chanticleer is located at 900 Chanticleer Way, Healdsburg.
