Drag celebrities Bob the Drag Queen and Trixie Mattel will appear in a free Zoom event Friday at 7:30 p.m., according to the IU event registration website. Bob the Drag Queen will give a makeup tutorial and both she and Mattel will answer attendees’ questions.
“We don't really have a script,” Live From Bloomington Director Mercedes Maldonado said.
“I mean, whatever they want to talk about we are completely open to.”
Attendees will have 20 minutes to ask questions at the end of the Zoom, Maldonado said. The Indiana Memorial Union Board of Directors will ask a couple of guiding questions on topics including the celebrities’ time on RuPaul’s Drag Race, makeup routines, inspiration for drag and favorite music. This will not be included in the attendees’ time for Q&A.
Over 340 have registered for the event, Maldonado said. There is no limit to how many may register.
Bob the Drag Queen won season 8 of Rupaul’s Drag Race and has acted in several roles for companies including Netfllix and HBO, according to her personal website.
Trixie Mattel won season 3 of Rupaul’s Drag Race and is the founder of Trixie Cosmetics and is also a singer and actor, according to Mattel’s personal website.
The Union Board of Directors had cost concerns because of the event’s larger size and higher budget, Maldonado said. Live From Bloomington Director Mak Smith and Maldonado suggested the money not spent on events canceled due to the pandemic should be spent on this event, Smith said.
“We kind of discussed the idea of perhaps just bringing Bob or just bringing Trixie, to bring the costs down,” Maldonado said. “But Mak and I were very adamant that the experience would be better with both of them.”
If IU’s Committee for Fee Review noticed a surplus at the end of the year, it would determine the Union Board requires less money to operate than it had previously and decrease its budget, Smith said. The committee meets every two years to review IU departments and campus-wide student organizations, according to the Division of Student Affairs website.
Smith and Maldonado argued the event would help balance the Union Board budget and would be fun for students.
Smith said he and Maldonado also highlighted the event's importance to the LGBTQ community at IU as another reason to go forward with the Zoom.
“I love the community, I stand for it and I really want more queer programming in general,” Smith said.
Smith said he would love to plan similar drag events for next spring as well as recurring drag events in general.
