Drag as activism: Washtenaw County performers seek to "demystify" queerness in divisive times

This story is part of a series about arts and culture in Washtenaw County. It is made possible by the Ann Arbor Art Center, the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Destination Ann Arbor, Larry and Lucie Nisson, and the University Musical Society.

Washtenaw County’s drag scene is stepping boldly into the political spotlight, using art and expression to counter rising anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. For many local performers, each show is more than entertainment – it’s an act of protest, defiance, and radical joy. In a time when drag is being mischaracterized and politicized, local artists are embracing visibility as a form of resistance. These performances and other events offer not just escapism, but solidarity, empowerment, and a call to action.

"Drag artists are chameleons," says Saharsh Hajela, owner of the Ann Arbor queer bar Uplift. "Many of the entertainers we work with are somewhere on the gender-nonconforming spectrum, folks who do both masc and femme drag. There’s something about seeing someone on stage, unafraid to express what’s in their minds, that helps folks who are exploring their identity to do the same thing."
Doug CoombeLotipha Renée Hunter and Donnie Love Hunter perform at a drag bingo event at Uplift in Ann Arbor.
The 2020 closure of Ann Arbor’s Aut Bar was a major blow to queer Washtenaw County residents. For queer folks, spaces like gay bars are truly community anchors: spaces where members of a marginalized community can gather and be joyful, regardless of what is happening beyond the doors and in the streets. That was Hajela’s thinking when he co-founded Uplift in 2024. Hajela was searching for more ways to connect with other local queer people face-to-face, as opposed to over social media, and to do so with unbridled joy. 

"I’m a personal believer that queer joy is an act of resistance," Hajela says. "To be present in a moment of joy is complete resistance. I would encourage people to think about their joy and what they can spread to others as an extension of that."

A regular drag performer at Uplift, Lotipha Renée Hunter, emphasizes not only the importance of visibility, but also the transformative power of performance for some audience members. She explains that whenever she’s on stage, whether at Uplift or other popular drag bars such as Gigi's in Detroit, she hopes for every audience member to connect with her as a performer and as a person.
Doug CoombeLotipha Renée Hunter performs at a drag bingo event at Uplift.
"It’s a wonderful thing to know that there are people that come to see you perform, and they feel seen and like they are not alone after you interact with them," Hunter says. "I just hope people walk away with a smile, and that I in some way made their day brighter."

Demystifying queer experience

While Hajela can be found in the daytime working as a software engineer, he takes on a different role in the evenings, connecting directly with Uplift patrons and collaborators to ensure patrons feel safe and encouraged to take risks while in the space. He says this mindset also applies to the bar’s work with a variety of drag performers, who range from amateur to seasoned, and from local to world-famous. 

For Hajela, using Uplift’s platform to highlight these artists' voices, as well as the art form of drag itself, is just one way to fight back against current legislative efforts targeting LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans people. He says that if the queer experience were "demystified" by queer entertainers and outspoken community members, there would be potential for stronger support for the LGBTQ+ community from lawmakers on either end of the political spectrum. 

"There’s a movement to vilify and alienate queer folks, and to create barriers between us and folks who haven’t been exposed to the magic of drag yet," Hajela says. "It’s important to know that this movement is using ‘drag’ as an umbrella term for trans, queer, and gender-nonconforming people – and that we as queer folks should be as loud and as visible as possible when we’re able."
Doug CoombeDonnie Love Hunter and Lotipha Renée Hunter perform at a drag bingo event at Uplift.
Local drag performers have noticed growing fear among their peers in the local drag scene, but they emphasize the resilience of the performers they work alongside, and the overwhelming support entertainers show each other. Ann Arbor drag queen Jacob Lydick, known onstage as Portia Lynn, has both hosted and attended a number of benefit shows supporting trans performers' access to gender-affirming care. Hunter says many of the performers she works with "seem to be aware of where they should not perform to avoid any hardship." 

"Drag has always been around us without it being a problem, and our allies know and understand that," Hunter says. "Drag is just another form of entertainment where people can turn their brains off and forget their troubles for a little bit."

Drag at U-M

Another local organization working to demystify queer experience through drag is the University of Michigan (U-M) Arts Initiative, which has partnered with Uplift on queer events. Arts Initiative Executive Director Mark Clague sees partnerships like this as an avenue for U-M to become more deeply ingrained in the community it serves, and to provide much-needed support to a community and a culture under fire.

"The U-M Arts Initiative really wants to use the power of the arts as a kind of antidote for angry discourse vilifying the other, and [to create] an empathetic understanding across differences," Clague says. "We want to help affirm communities within communities and create bridges of understanding by listening and connecting with one another as human beings."
Doug CoombeUniversity of Michigan Arts Initiative Executive Director Mark Clague.
The Arts Initiative has both sponsored and presented drag events including "Drag as Resistance: Conversation and Performance" in 2023. Local drag entertainers Jadein Black, Pinball McQueen, and Perry Dox joined U-M professor Larry La Fountain-Stokes and "RuPaul’s Drag Race" star Monet X Change for a panel discussion on the art form of drag at Necto Nightclub. The Arts Initiative also hosted the Runway Rumble Drag Competition, founded by Lydick, in 2024. Lydick explains that he wanted to develop a show that could introduce more students to queer spaces off campus, and celebrate the variety of drag styles and performances in a familiar competition format.  

"One of the things that went into our pitch was bridging the gap between the campus environment and the Ann Arbor environment," Lydick says. "I wanted to hop from venue to venue in the community to essentially serve as a tour of what our community has to offer people."

U-M faculty member Rogério Pinto has implemented drag in his research and his teaching as both a form of self-expression and a way to explore complicated themes and topics of identity. Originally from Brazil, Pinto says he appreciates the "loud and proud" nature of drag in the U.S. compared to the "more demure drag aesthetics of Brazilian drag." He says the beautiful thing about drag as an art form is the many forms it can take and the many stories it can tell. 
Doug CoombeUniversity of Michigan social work and art professor Rogério Pinto.
"Drag allows for creativity that is striking, provocative, and sometimes triggering, but allows for a level of humor that other things may not necessarily have," Pinto says. "By using humor, drag makes me more vulnerable and allows me to convey an idea that could otherwise be very flat."

U-M is embracing drag not only as an art form, but as a powerful tool for education, research, and institutional change. From inviting drag performers to participate in staff training sessions to supporting scholarly work by professors like LaFountain-Stokes on drag history and queer performance, the university is finding new ways to integrate drag into academic and professional spaces. These efforts highlight drag’s potential to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) far beyond the nightclub stage at a time when U-M has dismantled many of its formal DEI efforts. For faculty members like Pinto and Clague, drag opens doors to deeper conversations about identity, empathy, and social transformation.

"There are so many ways to advance DEI through drag," Pinto says. "We usually think of drag as being performed in a nightclub or other setting, but drag has also been used in so many other ways, not necessarily for shows and nightlife."

Clague echoes that sentiment.

"When we think of the arts as just entertainment, we lose the real, deep social impact the arts can have," Clague says. "One of the things that the arts should be doing in the world is to bring new voices to our awareness, create empathy, and introduce audiences to new perspectives."

Drag as one form of resistance

Amid the celebration and spectacle of drag, Hajela believes that meaningful resistance must begin with introspection. Whether it’s organizing events, showing up for others, or simply creating safe spaces, every choice matters.

"It’s important to recognize that drag is just one piece of a larger puzzle," Hajela says. "It’s important for all of us to have a conversation with ourselves about what will bring us the most joy, and what ways to most wisely place our resistance efforts."

Hajela highlights that one of the most important things allies can do in the current political climate is to "support drag artists whenever possible." For many, this support may look like attending drag events and tipping the performers they see there. But Hajela also notes that support can take many other forms, such as donating gently used clothing to clothing swaps aimed at trans and gender-nonconforming individuals, or volunteering with LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations. He encourages both queer folks and allies alike to explore different avenues of support throughout the community, emphasizing that recognizing and uplifting ongoing work can be just as impactful as starting a new movement.

"Starting small is the best way to start," Hajela says. "Start meeting folks in the community. Expand on what you’re able to give and how you’re able to give it."
Doug CoombeDonnie Love Hunter performs at a drag bingo event at Uplift.
As a drag performer himself, Lydick agrees that multiple forms of support are crucial in a frightening time for the LGBTQ+ community.

"It’s so important for straight people to use their platform to support their queer friends and family members," Lydick says. "Tip the queens, the kings, all the performers, and just be there for your local queer community because when you care for them, they will care for you 10 times over."

All photos by Doug Coombe.