Drag City

WASHINGTON D.C. –– Brooklyn Heights stands next to her drag mother, Sasha Adams, both looming above the dining room in Nellie’s Sports Bar at almost seven feet tall after stiletto heels and teased hair. The crowd that gathered at Nellie’s was standard: around fifty Washingtonians, starry-eyed in the presence of two anomalies - men who dressed, acted, and essentially were glamorous women.

“Am I sweating?” Heights asked, carefully touching the front of her short, wine-colored wig. “Of course I’m sweating, I’m a man. But could you tell? That’s the beauty of drag!”

This was a typical Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. for Heights and Adams. The crowd that sat at high-top tables filled Nellie’s for Bingo ranging from low twenties to middle-aged. Drag Bingo is everything a standard game of Bingo is, just hosted by drag queens and usually involving prizes that pertain to the LGBTQ community. Groups of women giggled over cocktails in clear plastic cups, and tables of women and men shared buckets of Bud Light.

“I love this girl,” Adams said, draping a muscular arm tipped with red acrylic nails around Heights. “She's my daughter, she's my best friend, she's a mess. And of course, I taught her everything she knows."

Northwest Washington has had a surge in popularity over the last few years at Nellie’s and Town DanceBoutique, which are the most popular gay bars in Washington, D.C. Both bars event calendars include a range of drag events showcasing local queens and nationally-recognized names, due to a high demand of drag related events. It’s no secret that with drag’s popularity comes a mainstream appeal and a decreased need to harshly separate sexualities, gender identities, and everything in between. In fact, the stairwell at Nellie’s boasts hanging awards for best gay bar/club, best sports bar, best singles bar, best trivia bar, and best drag brunch - a list that typically does not seem to line up.

“As we have grown and evolved over the years, and RuPaul's Drag Race's popularity has exploded, and we have brought in nationally recognized drag performers, we have established ourselves as the most prominent drag show in DC,” says owner of Town DanceBoutique, Ed Bailey. “Some would say we are one of the most respected shows in the whole country. Starting our Friday and Saturday nights with such a well received and energetic show is a key component to a formula that has proven to be very successful.”

In addition to standard drag shows on the weekends, Town hosts ‘So, you think you're a drag queen?' once a month in an effort to find the newest drag talent in the region. Nellie’s hosts weekly drag queen brunches with buffets, a drag show, and bottomless mimosas.

“Drag in D.C. is different than drag in New York or L.A. or Atlanta, and that’s just in the U.S., honey,” Heights says hurriedly. “It’s hard for people to be who they are. It is. Especially because we live so close to that f***** in the White House.”

Bingo paused for a quick intermission, so that Heights could lip-sync the Glee version of “Don’t Stop Believin.’” Gold flecks of powder highlighted her cheekbones as she sashayed through the narrow space in between tables. Her scarlet lips synced with each word, as if she had written the song herself and somehow everyone in the bar just happened to know it too.

“Drag in D.C. is just so inspirational and hilarious,” said Lydia, a sophomore at Marymount University who attended Drag Bingo at Nellie’s on Tuesday. “Watching the queens at Nellie’s always makes me appreciate the drag scene in D.C. so much. They’re comparable to the more well-known queens in RuPaul’s Drag Race because they bring humor and good looks and personality all together in one beautiful woman.”

Lydia sits in the back of the Nellie’s dining room sipping a gin and tonic through a straw, her black lipstick matching the gingham corset-like top sitting on her willowy frame. She had just finished her second round of Bingo, holding her drink up whenever one of the queens proposed a toast or simply said something she related to. Everyone in the room seemed to soak up the energy that the queens exuded every time they called a new number.

“I appreciate their courage, passion, and talent,” Lydia said. “They inspire me everyday with how they can whip up elaborate costumes with hours and flawlessly lip sync to Britney and bring tears to an audience’s eyes. They live the exact lived they wanna live no matter the opinions of those around them, because it makes them the most happy.”

As drag in Washington expands from just gay clubs, American University hosted drag queen bingo for the second time during their welcome week for students coming back to school. While several drag queens called out numbers for students to win prizes, performances and audience participation (like twerk contests) happened throughout the night.

“We didn’t know what to expect last year,” said Maya Graham, coordinator of program initiatives at American University. “When over 600 people came, we knew that it would only be bigger this year.”

Hosting drag queen bingo at American University was a risk, knowing that not everyone found fun in men dressing up as women, but the event took off. Unexpectedly, students requested that it come back again - and it did.

“I received only positive feedback,” Graham said. “Students mentioned that it was their favorite event and that they had so much fun. For some students, it is also their first time seeing a drag show so it was a brand new experience for them. Students also like the vibe of the event - very judge-free and welcoming.”

Drag in Washington is marked by the year 2008, when the the Nationals stadium opened up in the southeast section. While beneficial to the previously economically depressed area, the baseball stadium end of an era for a group of drag queens who had made the neighborhood their spot.

“When we opened in 2007, there was a great tradition of drag in Washington,” Bailey said. “Our goal at that time was to introduce a newer, more current version of a drag show that reflected the interests of our base audience which was younger (and in many cases had not previously shown any interest in drag entertainment).”

Places like The Chicken Hut, a gay bar in the 1960’s where drag queens first performed in Washington, had to sacrifice their building to the construction of the stadium and the up-and-coming neighborhood around it. In 2013, Gallup found that when Washington is compared with the 50 states, it has the highest percentage of adults who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. At 10 percent, that is double what the next state ranks, which is Hawaii, and nearly triple the overall national average of 3.5 percent.

Then, RuPaul’s Drag Race aired on TV in 2009 on Logo TV, a “niche” channel prioritizing gay programming for only a couple hundred thousand viewers per episode. The series spotlighted the many skills required to be a queen that could rise above the rest.

“I started watching RuPaul’s Drag Race with my sister when we were randomly looking for entertainment one night on vacation,” Lydia says, smiling like the thought is enough to recreate the entertainment.

“Ever since that night, my love and appreciation for the queens has only grown. I really want to be more involved in the community and find local shows to support the queens of the DMV.”

A UPS man passed the open windows of Nellie’s, as Heights and Adams shouted that they loved him, mean it. The crowd laughed and cheered as the delivery man waved to the room.

“Drag means self-expression,” Lydia said, thoughtfully. “It means being exactly who you are, even if you are not biologically that self. It means defying all standards to flaunt your style and creativity and charisma.”

The night of Bingo ended with a raffle, the money raised from ticket purchases going to an HIV foundation in Washington. The crowd showed no signs of thinning out - karaoke was starting in just 15 minutes.

“I know there's a lot of hate in the world right now,” Heights said, her voice taking a more serious tone than had been heard all night. “But remember, we aren’t born to hate one another, we are born with love. It’s love that allows us to be here and it’s love that allows us to do this."