I can understand why those who are not involved with the drag culture may have misunderstandings and prejudices against it. Colin Dugdale clearly did not educate himself on the Miss Gay IU pageant or the drag community when he wrote his opinion column last Thursday.\nFirst, it is important to know that a transvestite is not the same thing as a drag queen. A transvestite is a heterosexual who enjoys dressing like the opposite sex, which from my experience is not how any former Miss Gay IU should be identified. Second, describing Miss Gay IU as nothing more than “hypersexed” is unfair. While it is true that there may be some sexual undertones in performances, as there are in many theatrical performances, this is not the message behind Miss Gay IU. Miss Gay IU serves as an end-of-the-year celebration of the GLBT community and its allies. It is the most widely attended event at IU for GLBT students and allies, and it opens their minds to a very positive outlook on the GLBT community. The performers at Miss Gay IU are intelligent, insightful and determined to make our community stronger.\nVicki St James, our MGIU emeritus, even fought for the show to go on in the mid-‘90s when several IU students and faculty threatened to shut it down. She, along with the other former Miss Gay IUs, are among the most active members of the GLBT community at IU, and their work should not be insulted. Finally, I am disappointed by Dugdale’s viewpoints on our contribution to Positive Link. We raised over $2,000 for Positive Link to purchase rapid HIV testing supplies, which he would have known if he actually attended the show. A couple of days ago a volunteer from Positive Link approached me and thanked me for OUT’s contributions, claiming that the business could not survive without us.\nI hope that Colin Dugdale conducts an extensive amount of research on the next topic he decides to voice an opinion on. If he does this, he won’t hurt the GLBT community again.
Kim Ruggles\nSenior
