The queens returned to campus as Pride Club hosted a Halloween Drag Show

By Kyla Smulski

The queens were back on campus for the first time in two years to a flurry of applause. The Stonehill Halloween Drag Show on November 2, hosted by the Pride Club in the Martin Auditorium, drew more than 40 people and three featured artists.  

The energy in the auditorium was electric; the audience erupted with cheers as the queens strutted onto the stage under flashing lights. Each queen put on a unique Halloween-inspired performance, dancing across the stage and even stepping into the crowd. Audience members cheered, laughed, and eagerly offered tips as the queens commanded the stage.  

Queens Miss Honeycomb and Gem Stoner said their journey into drag began during the COVID-19 pandemic.   

“I got into drag during COVID when I was trapped at home in between shifts. I just played with makeup and got into it,” said Miss Honeycomb. 

Gem Stoner said it seemed the perfect time to do it. 

“I also got into drag during COVID. I had always wanted to try it, then I moved to Worcester and everyone there was very cool, and they encouraged me.” 

Since getting a start during the pandemic, both queens said drag has become a creative outlet, and this year's Halloween show allowed them to express themselves through their spooky looks.    

“I make all my own stuff, I just kind of chose stuff that I wanted to wear tonight based off of what I’ve made in the past and what fit the spooky theme of the Halloween show,” said Miss Honeycomb. 

Gem Stoner said this was the perfect season for performing. 

“I love Halloween and doing spooky drag looks any time of year, I thought The Shining was perfect.” 

Beyond the outfits and performance, both queens said that drag has become a way for them to challenge themselves and experience personal growth. For them, performing is about building confidence, living truthfully, and pushing past fear.    

“I think something that was hard for me, and something that people don't realize, is having the confidence to just get out there looking like this,” said Gem Stoner. “Not only dressed like the opposite gender, but in a ridiculous way also. People are gonna look at you and people aren't gonna like it, but it's worth it to just do it anyway, live your truth.”  

Miss Honeycomb agreed.  

“Yeah, I would say something similar. I have really bad anxiety and depression, it's been hard to push myself to do performances sometimes. Sometimes I just feel very self-conscious, and I don't want to be on stage that day. So that's been a nice push to get me to have more self-confidence in and out of drag.” 

Sean Sinclair, who helped organize the event, explained how much work the Pride Club put into the show, from developing contracts to creating invoices and ensuring W-9 forms were filled out.   

“So, what you first have to do is contracts, it's very important for the drag queens or any sort of presenter that comes on campus to get a contract so that you, as the club, aren't liable if they get injured. You also have to get their invoices, like create an invoice. You also have to get their W-9 form submitted, and you have to send it into SGA,” he said. 

“Overall, there's a lot of planning that goes into it, I think also picking the space is really important,” he said. “You want a place where there's a stage, a decent sound system, and lights. In previous years, it was held in The Hill. However, because we wanted to do a night event instead of the usual morning brunch event, we decided to choose the Martin Auditorium.”  

Although organizing the show takes a lot of work, Sinclair emphasized that the importance lies in bringing people together, not just in the Stonehill community, but across the New England LGBTQ+ community as well.    

“Drag shows are our biggest event as Pride Club. It helps connect people who usually wouldn't come to our events because of the timing to come and support not only the LGBTQ+ community here at Stonehill, but the local LGBTQ+ community in New England overall. We get queens from Providence, Boston, Worcester, queens from all over the New England area. It's a nice way for folks to kind of get an idea about what our club is like, but also a way for them to engage with this community,” he said.   

Aside from the logistics of organizing the show, choosing the performers is another crucial step in the process. Sinclair, a member of the Pride Club, said selecting the right performers helps ensure the show reflects the campus community's diversity and creativity.  

“Coco Lafreak was chosen because they've been a staple at Stonehill since the first drag show. We felt that people were already familiar with their work, and they were really eager to do it last year. We didn't have a show last year, so we wanted to give them the opportunity to come again this year since we are going to do two,” he said. “Gemstone is an alternative queen; we have a lot of LGBTQ+ members who are in alternative communities. These include emo, goth, punk, and subcultures like that. We wanted a queen to represent a good chunk of the LGBTQ+ community.”   

Sinclair said that the drag show serves a larger purpose, providing a safe, accepting, and empowering space for LGBTQ+ students in a time when crucial programs are under threat on college campuses nationwide.   

“I think it's very important for Stonehill to host events like this, considering the state in which the country is at right now,” Sinclair said. “A lot of colleges' DEI programs or affinity sections of their office, like their Office of Intercultural Affairs, and stuff like that are getting defunded and shutting down, which is really awful. Stonehill College is one of the colleges that actively fights against defunding these programs. Having the ability to give space to LGBTQ+ students to be themselves, to be where they're at is so important,” he said.   

Sinclair said students interested in getting involved with the Pride Club can join the group’s email list or contact him. 

”We have an email list if anyone wants to be added to our email list, they can email me (Ssinclair1@students.stonehill.edu), or they can follow our Instagram (@stonehillpride). Those two often promote where our locations are. Follow the Office of Intercultural Affairs newsletter as well because they promote not only our pride events, but events that are associated with pride that they're hosting,” he said.