Members of Washington University’s Pride Alliance put on a drag show Saturday night to present LGBTQIA issues to the general public.

The event, which began at 8 p.m. in College Hall, was free to the public, with a $5 donation request to fund future Pride Alliance events. Pride Alliance aims to deal with advocacy and queer issues in a social and educational context.

“The show was a fun way for us to perform genders,” Jenea Nixon, external co-president of Pride Alliance said. “It’s a time when people can come and be really girly or really masculine; however you want to express yourself, you can do it.”

In addition to having its members perform, Pride Alliance hired three professional performers from GlitterBomb—Siren, Ryder and Nik October—for the event. The show included a sequence of lip-synched performances to popular songs, switching off between those given by professionals and those by Pride Alliance members.

“It was really cool to see how enthusiastic all of the performers were,” freshman Melanie Stern said. “And everyone in the audience was equally into it. There was a lot of energy in the room, with everyone dancing in their seats and clapping along, which made the show a lot of fun.”

Siren hosted the event. The performance contained many elements of a traditional drag show, but without the glitter, which could not be used due to an extra charge for cleanup.

After a few performances, the show switched to an interactive fashion show involving members of the audience. Those who had dressed up as drag kings and queens, and had even chosen fake names, were called on stage and asked to walk down the runway one by one for audience members to inspect their costumes. Winners were chosen for each gender category based on level of applause.

“People who wouldn’t normally think of dressing unusually will be able to open their eyes to this cause in a way that’s carefree and not judgmental,” Nixon said. “I think it’ll be a way for people that don’t really know about things like this to gain some insight.”

In addition to the annual drag show, Pride Alliance hosts several other educational events throughout the year, such as Ally Day and a Masqueerade. Most general body meetings focus on LGBTQIA awareness and education and are open to any students interested.

The end of the show was greeted by applause from the audience, as well as the passing of several dollar bills from audience members to those who participated in the show.

“I really didn’t know what I expected, since I’d never been to a drag show before,” freshman Arya Parhar said. “It was just a giant group of performances in a really fun and interactive manner, and I think it was a really good way to educate the public on these topics in a lighthearted manner.”