The Dallas bar Mr. Misster hosted its weekly “Champagne Drag Brunch” Saturday afternoon which roughly 20 people attended.
This week’s brunch was hosted by drag performer Nicole O’Hara Munro and included a giveaway of four tickets to the Jinkx & Dela Holiday Show, a Christmas-themed drag show. The tickets were provided by the Los Angeles-based live events promoter AEG Presents.
Saturday’s event also featured performances by drag performers Barbie Davenport Dupree, Raquel Lord, and Symphony McKnight Capri.
Mr. Misster is a bar located in Oak Lawn that co-owner Trey Stewart previously described as similar to a “crafty cocktail lounge, which will be more upscale in the early evening and flip to a younger vibe as the night progresses,” per D Magazine.
Stewart opened Mr. Misster in 2019 alongside co-owner Meghan Allen, who is married to former Dallas Mavericks player Devin Harris.
The bar previously attracted attention due to an all-ages “Drag the Kids to Pride” event in June 2022, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Events such as these prompted Texas lawmakers to pass SB 12, which regulates “sexually oriented performances on public property, on the premises of a commercial enterprise, or in the presence of a child.” It specifically banned such performances from being held in the presence of minors. However, it is currently on pause as legal challenges work their way through the courts.
Still, even without children in attendance, drag shows have sparked controversy in Texas due to concerns over whether such performances are inherently disrespectful toward women.
Such concerns led West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler to cancel an on-campus drag show in March, claiming that “[d]rag shows are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent.”
“Drag shows stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood,” he wrote in an email to the campus community, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Others have expressed different opinions on the matter, such as local drag performer Emeka Bless, who says such performances are similar to cosplaying.
“It’s liberating. It’s freedom of expression. … We like to put on makeup, wigs, and we just like to entertain a crowd,” Bless previously told The Dallas Express.
Miss Kitty Litter, an Austin-based drag performer, offered a different opinion about whether the shows are offensive, stating that drag queens are neither “trying to show respect or not show respect for women, to be honest.”
“Drag is a show. It is to take your mind off whatever is bothering you that day or in your life. We don’t take ourselves too serious, so neither should you. We are not trying to convert anyone to be gay, we are trying to make you laugh,” the performer said, speaking with The Dallas Express.
