A drag brunch event scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Dallas was moved to a different location due to ongoing renovations at the original venue.
EM Productions was slated to put on its Social Drag Brunch at the Dallas Social Club, which is located at 2512 Cedar Springs Rd. in Uptown Dallas. The event billed drag performer Emeka Bless and other drag queens and kings. It was scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. and run until 3:30 p.m.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, drag shows in Texas made waves in recent years, with some allowing children to attend, which prompted protests. Even shows for legal adults prompted consternation in some corners.
“Drag shows stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood,” said West Texas A&M University president Walter Wendler, explaining why he canceled a drag show scheduled to take place on the campus in 2023. “Drag shows are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent.”
Emeka Bless countered in a previous interview with The Dallas Express that such shows are “liberating” and meant to be an exercise in “freedom of expression.”
“It’s not all about what you see in the media. We’re not after your kids or anything like that,” said Bless. “We’re just here to support everybody.”
The Dallas Express arrived at the Dallas Social Club before the start of the show and noticed that the building appeared to be closed, with construction workers laboring in and around the building. The news outlet eventually gained entry to the venue, however, the construction workers present said they were unaware of an event scheduled at the location and that they were there to work on renovations.
The Dallas Express later caught up with Eric Saldana, the event organizer, who said that the show was moved to the popular Monkey King Noodle Company location at 2933 Main St. in Dallas. Monkey King Noodle Company is owned by renowned Dallas-born noodle maker and restaurateur Andrew Chen. The show at Monkey King was 18 and up.
Saldana explained that an email was sent to ticket buyers about the location change, however, The Dallas Express received no such email. Saldana then offered a refund for the ticket and access to a future show.
