Check out the piece about GenderBloc's GenderF*ck Drag Show featuring your favorite and mine...Heywood Jablowme.

Genderf*ck

By Jayna Barker | The News Record

The bathrooms adjacent to Catskellar in Tangeman University Center are exactly the same — two stalls, two sinks, towel and soap dispensers. There isn’t even a urinal in the men’s bathroom. Most people can’t tell the difference between the two. Yet, within 30 minutes of two signs being posted rendering the bathrooms gender neutral, they were ripped down.

There are many people who aren’t comfortable with the idea of gender-neutral bathrooms.

GenderBloc, a radical activist group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied students, focuses on gender issues, including transgender and genderqueer activism. They put up the gender-neutral signs in honor of the Genderf*ck Drag Show hosted Friday, May 7.
“Do you go into the bathroom of your sex or gender identity? If you don’t look like you belong, what happens?” asked K.D. Miller, a fourth-year special education student. “It makes people take a step back and go, ‘What do I do?’ which is what transfolk do every day.”

The Genderf*ck Drag Show isn’t a typical drag show — while there are some risqué shenanigans and funny performances, it is a way for GenderBloc to be seen, entertain drag show goers and spread a larger message to students as a culmination of the University of Cincinnati’s Pride and Visibility Week.

“We’re trying to get people to understand that it doesn’t matter what you identify yourself as; you’re still a human being,” said Lindsey Hargis, a UC alumna.

It’s a very unique form of activism and outreach, said Jamie Royce, a UC alumna.

Friday Night Live helped host the event, passing out sex kits to incoming audience members. All donations and tips received during the performances were split 50/50 between TransOhio and GenderBloc.

The show opened with emcee Royce, who discussed recent hate crimes and the lack of safety for the LGBTQ community. Royce, a Great American Condom Campaign advocate, threw condoms into the crowd throughout the night while discussing safe sex.

The show featured the following characters and their drag names: Phil McCock, Heywood Jablowme, Adonis, Paxton Bound, Allusion, Ben Eatiner/Anita Butch, Victor Vixen, Buster Hymen, Shadow Banks and Johnny Rammer.

In the first act, Heywood Jablowme (K.D. Miller) performed to “Hard to Handle” dressed in suspenders and a red bowtie.

Paxton Bound (Kay Ess) and Johnny Rammer (Lauren Welborn) performed “It Ain’t the Meat, It’s the Motion” which involved a lot of stripping and grinding against one another.
Heywood Jablowme then showed the crowd there is such a thing as a happy ending through the lyrics “The Pretender” by the Foo Fighters.

Phil McCock (Kimmins Southard) and Ben Eatiner (Jamie Royce) explained what would happen “If I Were Gay.”

Shadow Banks (Eric Hilson) received a hands-on lesson from Heywood Jablowme accompanied by “Love, Sex and Magic” by Justin Timberlake and Ciara.

Allusion (Alyssa Gates), Phil McCock and Adonis give a new spin on M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes."

Victor Vixen (Chelsey Walters) and Buster Hymen sang along to “Schadenfreude” from the musical “Avenue Q” discussing taking pleasure in other people’s pain.

Phil McCock, Heywood Jablowme, Adonis, Paxton Bound, Allusion and Anita Butch sang along to “The Bitch of Living” from the musical “Spring Awakening.”

Perhaps the most applauded act was when Heywood Jablowme helped all of the GenderF*ckers come out and give them proper identity labels such as: stone butch, straight ally, gay and femme.

The reactions throughout the show ranged from smiles, laughter and in-awe mouth dropping.

“Have you ever looked back in people’s faces in the movie theater?” said Chelsey Walters, a fifth-year fine arts student. “That’s what I love. Not the before, not the applause — the reaction. You see what you’re getting out of it.”

The acts throughout the show demonstrated what is going on in the LGBTQ community and what needs to be done. Audience members were shown what it means to be a part of LGBTQ and the strides GenderBloc has taken to better educate the community.

“There’s so much work that needs to be done to make the world a better place for all people,” said Southard, a third-year social work student. “There’s a lot of different ways to go about that, and the drag show is about making people feel more comfortable and
pushing boundaries.”

The performances were practiced and rehearsed as early as Winter quarter of this academic year in a reserved room in the College-Conservatory of Music. A lot of the material was recycled from previous acts and shows put on by GenderBloc.

What makes GenderBloc so unique is the fact that, although it represents the LGBTQ community, it’s not just comprised of those people.

“It’s not just gays for gays,” said Walters, a straight ally and fifth-year fine arts student. “It’s everyone.”

GenderBloc is comprised of all sexualities and orientations. There are men for men, women for women, men for women and women for men.

Thus, the Genderf*ck Drag Show allows for viewers to see both sides of the coin; there are people who are not part of that niche who support it.

“It’s definitely an education about being free to express your gender in any way that you see fit. If you want to dress masculine or feminine, that’s OK. If you want to switch back and forth, that’s OK, too,” Miller said. “It’s very much about gender identity and showing that everyone has those multiple facets of their gender.”

Seeing the drag show has changed many people’s views of the LGBTQ community, seeing as the vast majority of the drag show goers are generally heterosexual.

“It changed their perception of LGBTQ,” Royce said. “It was cool to hear someone say, ‘Why would I ever say things like faggot?’ ”

Although the Genderf*ck Drag Show is one night full of entertaining performances, seductive poses and laughter, the bigger message GenderBloc advocates is in effect 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“People are people,” Hargis said. “It doesn’t matter how they dress or who they fall in love with or who they have sex with. People are just people.”