Marshall Pride provides a cathartic homecoming for small town drag performers
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Rachel Johnson sits outside her home near Marshall getting her makeup done. First it’s the rainbow eyeshadow. An arch of crystal face gems finishes the look.
“It’s like putting on a persona. It’s not like I’m myself anymore,” Johnson said. “I’m kind of my alter ego, and I just have fun with it. Really disembodied. Another spirit.”
Johnson becomes drag king Dixon Ice. She first performed at Marshall Drag Show as a student at Southwest Minnesota State University a few years back.
Drag shows are now a staple of the entertainment scene in the Twin Cities and other larger Minnesota towns. Some of the performers grew up in rural Minnesota. Some of those small towns host drag shows of their own, and these performers, including Johnson, are taking the opportunity for a cathartic homecoming.
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“People come to the drag show [and] they’ve never been to one,” Johnson said. “They learned all kinds of different things, like how to respect pronouns, plenty of things that are important, right? And they learn and they grow, and then they take that to their workplace and that just expands.”
Brau Brothers Brewing Company is now the Marshall drag show’s regular host. This is the third Marshall Pride Drag Show and fifth overall. It always sells out. Even standing room tickets are gone.
There are not a lot of queer dedicated spaces around Marshall. Brau Brothers Brewing Company general manager Mary Brau said being vocal and visible with its support for the drag show matters in many ways to the community.
“Find me any hospitality business, any restaurant, any bar, any brewery that doesn’t have some member of the LGBTQ+ community pouring your drinks, bringing your food, cooking your food. You’re going to be hard-pressed to find that,” Brau said. “It is a wonderful way to show your staff, to show your customers, to show your community you are here for everybody. That’s how you show hospitality.”
This heartens Marshall Pride organizer Julie Walker. She said when they first approached Brau Brothers as a possible venue to host the drag show, the reaction left her speechless.
“We dipped our toe in the sand and said, ‘Hey, would you be OK with maybe hosting the drag show in the backroom?’ And they said, ‘Absolutely, we’ll do it for free. Do you want table service? Do you want servers back there?’ I mean, it was beyond the reception of our wildest dreams,” Walker said. “I’ve been really grateful for Brau Brothers being the first organization in town to really unabashedly be supportive of Marshall Pride.”
Walker said more rural communities are launching pride events. Gone are the days when people had to travel to bigger communities to take in a Pride celebration.
“And now, as we can embrace these more rural pride spaces, we can be our full selves in the place where we grew up,” Walker said. “The place where we live, in the place where we go to school, in the place where we have our kids… we don’t have to go someplace else to fully be ourselves, and that’s just this incredibly powerful experience.”
Drag queen Daliah J. Honey grew up in rural Canby before moving to Minneapolis. She said she felt most like herself when she performed.
“When I put one foot on the stage, I just thrive,” Honey said. “I have people who will take video and take pictures and when they send them to me or shown to me, I have a smile on my face the entire time. I’m so happy and I love it.”
Growing up in the Marshall area, Honey said classmates sometimes treated her badly. She wanted to return to inspire younger generations.
“Even though every time I’m in this area, it kind of hurts the heart a little bit,” Honey said. “I still at the same time want to be able to give people a show, and to inspire not just one, but maybe many to just … that it’s OK to be themselves. That truly means a lot.”
Organizer Julie Walker said many of the returning small town drag artists are performing for the first time in front of their loved ones. She said it’s a hugely symbolic moment for them.
“So, it’s really beautiful to watch that,” Walker said. “Not just folks from urban areas that are drag performers and that are queer. It’s folks everywhere.”
A large crowd cheers on the drag performers who come from all over the state.
Then, with Ginuwine’s “Pony” blaring from the speakers, Dixon Ice takes the stage. Busting out some funny dance moves, and bathed in the spotlight, he then comes riding out on a stuffed pony with a big smile plastered on his face.
It feels like a homecoming.