Saturday’s wet weather did not put much of a damper on Mr. Misster’s weekly “Champagne Drag Brunch,” with roughly 30 people turning out to fill up the bar in the afternoon.
The event was once again hosted by drag performer Nicole O’Hara Munro and featured performances by Shasta Montana, Giscelle, April Rition, and Kandy Aisle.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the venue garnered significant attention after it hosted an all-ages drag show last year that saw multiple children in attendance, with some even taking the stage with some of the drag performers. The incident spurred a backlash against such events, even prompting the Texas Legislature to adopt a law prohibiting “sexually oriented” performances from being held in the presence of minors.
Saturday’s afternoon show was 21 and up, an age restriction the bar has maintained following protests that targeted the venue in the months that followed the all-ages show. The state law is currently tied up in litigation, but other drag show venues and events have opted to deny minors entry regardless, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Still, drag performance in general, even outside the presence of children, prompted some commotion when West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler canceled a planned drag event on the university campus on the basis that such performances constitute a form of anti-woman blackface.
“Drag shows stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood,” Wendler wrote in an email to university stakeholders, reported NBC News. “Drag shows are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent.”
While The Dallas Express could not secure on-the-record comment from anyone at Saturday’s drag show, previous attendees to such shows countered Wendler’s objections.
Local drag performer Emeka Bless previously told The Dallas Express that drag is little more than cosplaying and provides an avenue for people to express themselves in unconventional ways.
“It’s liberating. It’s freedom of expression,” Bless said between performances at The View Dallas. “We like to put on makeup, wigs, and we just like to entertain a crowd.”
