TAMPA, Fla. — Hours before she takes any stage, Freya Rose Young is perfecting her look.
She says it takes a lot of effort to be a drag queen performer, but she wouldn’t have it any other way because this is a place where she feels most comfortable.
“Just truly express parts of you that you don’t get to do on a daily basis, like wear glitter on your eyeballs,” Young said.
As uncomfortable as glitter in your eyes might sound, it’s a part of an ensemble that means more than just what she looks like on stage.
Young said she’s most like herself inside places like City Side in Tampa, and not in other places where she feels judged.
And she says that safety has been dwindling more and lately, in part, because of a Florida bill that would impose fines or suspend licenses on venues and hosts that allow kids to attend adult drag performances.
Young said that is why she is one of nine drag queens who have been going to Tallahassee almost weekly to lobby against the legislation.
It’s also why she participating in Thursday night’s fundraiser for Drag2Talle at City Side.
Performances, along with a raffle and silent auction, were put on to raise money for drag queens and their supporters so they can make their way to Tallahassee in the near future for a large demonstration at the Florida Capitol.
Young said she hopes that through demonstrations and performances, people see that she’s a normal person — just one who might have a little more skill with a makeup brush.
Organizers of the demonstration say they aren’t announcing when it is taking place because they want to keep demonstrators safe from people who might oppose their views.
