{"id":23559,"date":"2015-03-23T14:56:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T19:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=23559"},"modified":"2015-03-30T10:20:30","modified_gmt":"2015-03-30T15:20:30","slug":"queens-to-seize-lamar-lounge-march-25th-highly-anticipated-drag-show-is-part-of-universitys-gender-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/queens-to-seize-lamar-lounge-march-25th-highly-anticipated-drag-show-is-part-of-universitys-gender-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens to Seize Lamar Lounge March 25th – Highly Anticipated Drag Show Is Part of University\u2019s Gender Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 15th Annual Isom Student Gender Conference<\/strong> kicks off Wednesday, March 25th with a screening of 2006 documentary Small Town Gay Bar<\/em><\/strong> followed by a drag show at Lamar Lounge<\/strong>. This year\u2019s conference is titled \u201cSpace and Place,\u201d and will feature panel discussions by Gender Studies faculty and students, fiction and poetry readings, and a keynote address by Baltimore-based journalist, author, and television producer David Simon <\/strong>(The Wire<\/em>, Treme<\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The evening starts out at The Powerhouse<\/strong>, where Small Town Gay Bar<\/em> will be \"SmallTownGayBarCover\"<\/a>screened at 5 pm. Filmed in 2005\u20132006 with Executive Producer Kevin Smith <\/strong>of View Askew Productions<\/strong> (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back<\/em>), and director Malcolm Ingram<\/strong>, the film mainly focuses on two gay bars in Northern Mississippi\u2014Rumors, located in Shannon, and Crossroads in Meridian. After the screening, several of the folks involved in the film will participate in a discussion and Q&A, including Rick Gladdish<\/strong>, the owner of Rumors, and the bar\u2019s Show Director from 1996\u20132007, Alicia Stone-Valentino<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were super excited to have them come in and film,\u201d said Stone-Valentino. \u201cBasically, Shannon was the smallest town in America that had a gay bar, so they wanted to come in and get an insight on our lives on a day-by-day basis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This insight includes not only profiles of the bars and their communities but also interviews with some high-profile opposition, namely Fred Phelps<\/strong>, infamous founder of the Westboro Baptist Church<\/strong> (whose hometown was Meridian), and Don Wildman<\/strong>, the head of the American Family Association<\/strong> in Tupelo.<\/span><\/p>\n

This perspective \u201copened people\u2019s eyes to the conflict, the struggles, the battles that we faced every day in North Mississippi,\u201d said Stone-Valentino, but the filming was a great experience overall. The documentary made the rounds at all the major American film festivals\u2014Sundance, SXSW, and L.A.\u2019s Outfest.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the screening, Lamar Lounge will host a drag show featuring Stone-Valentino as\"Alicia<\/a> hostess and emcee, and three other performers, Kiera Mason<\/strong> (who is the current reigning Miss Mississippi Vintage American National Star<\/strong>), Lauren St. James<\/strong>, and Godiva<\/strong>. It\u2019s been a long time since there has been a live drag show here in Oxford\u2014Alicia told me that there were a couple back in the late 90s that were fundraisers for the LGBT Alliance of Ole Miss. So, what can we expect from the show Wednesday night?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people can expect is to have a good time,\u201d she said. \u201cCome out and laugh. What we do is give the illusion that we are the ones performing the songs. We\u2019re not going to sing live; we\u2019d clear the bar out if we did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact that this event is being held in a mainstream bar in this Mississippi town is encouraging.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNorthern Mississippi currently doesn\u2019t have any gay bars, so it\u2019s kind of unusual in that way,\u201d said Matt Kessler<\/strong>, an MFA student at Ole Miss. Kessler is heading up the queer fiction panel during the conference, which will be held at the Oxford-University Depot<\/strong> Thursday from 11:30 am\u201312:45 pm. He also helped with organizing the drag show, which he is very excited about.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the Lamar Lounge is perfect,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cI\u2019m so excited that Taariq David [Lamar Lounge manager], John Currence [owner], and Theresa Starkey [Associate Director and Instructor of Gender Studies] were able to get it to come together. It\u2019s a really cool space; it\u2019s small and very intimate. You\u2019ll definitely be able to expect some loud music and dancing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The drag show is surely an event not to be missed, and with any luck it won\u2019t be years\"IsomDragPoster\"<\/a> until the next time Oxford has the opportunity to indulge in this glamorous fun. The show starts at 9:30 pm and will last until it ends. Each performer will do two or three numbers. Bring your friends, your sense of humor, a little cash for tipping, and expect to witness some fabulously talented ladies strutting their stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information about the Isom Student Gender Conference and the full schedule of events, visit their web page: http:\/\/sarahisomcenter.org\/isom-student-gender-
\nconference<\/span>.\u00a0\"The<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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