Likki Fawcett and Onyx Gems were two show-stopping name selections at the annual Spring Drag Show on Saturday. Their opening act, which was performed to the song “Telephone” by Lady Gaga, provided fierce confidence that was evident in all performances throughout the show.

The Pride Alliance at Iowa State hosted the show, which took place in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. It was the second show the organization has hosted this semester. The show was a fundraiser for the organization to help pay the costs for other events.

For Glyn Powell, this was her third year participating in drag shows. Powell, who goes by the stage name Deven Wood, identifies herself as a cisgendered woman. 

“I find it very enlightening when you present yourself as a different gender,” Powell said.

In the show, Powell classified herself as a drag king and said she doesn’t sexualize herself as some of the other performers do. Powell prefers to perform to rock and country songs, while others usually perform to more of the current hip-hop and pop music.

When first arriving to Iowa State, Powell thought that the university was an inclusive setting. She believed that the drag show had helped with normalizing people in drag and helped with people being more open.

“It [also] helps people that are transitioning,” Powell said.

Jordan Stovall, who went by the stage name of Helena Basket, believed that the drag show helped with the visibility of the LGBT community.

“It takes a serious issue and makes it fun and more available to wider people,” Stovall said.

While the performances entertained those in attendance, the audience provided enjoyment for the performers and the organizations involved. Many attendees provided dollar bills as tips that would contribute to the money raised in the fundraiser.

In the midst of the show, the emcees, Likki Fawcett and Onyx Gems, selected four audience members to participate in their version of the game show “The Price is Right.” The contestants had to closely guess the prices of a high heel and wig worn by the emcees.

When the guessing game neared its conclusion, the two finalists had to battle one another in a lip sync battle to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass,” and the audience decided the winner. During a brief intermission, there were performances by Motion Sickness, the Iowa State student dance team, and the Cyclone Swing Society, a swing dancing student organization.

Powell, who also considers herself as gender fluid, participates in the drag show as entertainment.

“There are people who are very gender fluid or they like the experience,” Powell said. “I would fall into the category of liking the experience for social reasons.”

Powell sees the possibility of those that identify as cisgender participating in the drag shows as realistic. This type of progress may be slowed due to the current social climates at the university, state and national levels.

“Most people don’t think of drag kings, women wanting to dress up as men,” Powell said.

Drag kings and queens uniting with one another to take the stage in the drag shows reflects the right steps Powell believes are being made.