A group of drag queens and kings who crashed President Donald Trump’s first major Kennedy Center appearance Wednesday have spoken out about their experience.
The drag queens and king were greeted with cheers as they entered the Kennedy Center for its opening performance of Les Misérables, the group attending to protest Trump’s vow to ban drag shows at the institution.
Drag queen “Tara Hoot” said in an Instagram Live following the performance Wednesday night that “to be honest, I was a little scared darlings,” and a bit “unsure” as they all filed in.
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“Unfortunately, there were some other people there, but I think we brightened the audience as much as we possibly could,” she said.
“We had so many kind words and people come up to us tonight, it was just so delightful,” she added, noting that one fan even asked fellow drag queen “Vagenesis” for her autograph, the latter posting the interaction on her Instagram Story.
“We just figured we would be here just in case someone special shows up,” Vagenesis said moments before the president appeared.
This was Trump’s first big event at the Kennedy Center since he took control of the art institution in February, replacing most of its board with the likes of second lady Usha Vance and Attorney General Pam Bondi, as well as making himself chairman.
He also declared on Truth Social that the center would host “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST. RIC, WELCOME TO SHOW BUSINESS!”
Packed within the 2,300-strong audience at the Kennedy Center were Trump loyalists, including Vice President JD Vance, second lady Usha Vance, as well as Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Cheryl Hines.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump appeared in a private box with the presidential seal, but unlike the drag queens and king, they were greeted by a mix of boos and cheers, Vagenesis posting a video of the mixed reception.
“He’s wearing more makeup than I am,” she noted.
Drag king “Ricky Rosé" remarked that “getting a standing ovation followed by DJT getting overwhelmingly booed wasn’t on my bucket list, but we checked it off last night!”
Qommittee, a nonprofit national network of drag queens “fighting hate and censorship,” helped provide the group with tickets, which were donated to them by season ticket holders, in order to protest “Trump’s presence at the show, following his ban of drag at the center.”
“It was protest by taking up space,” Hoot told NPR Wednesday. “We wanted to support the artists and bring attention to the drag ban at the Kennedy Center by showing up and being gorgeous.”
She doubled down on this sentiment in her Instagram Live, stating that “we do what we can,” and “I’m good at showing up and being gorgeous, so that’s what I did.”
“Never forget that drag has always and will always be some sort of protest or resistance,” added drag queen “Mari Con Carne” on Instagram Thursday.
Hoot admitted that though the reception they got was “delightful,” there were still some people who were “kind of looking at us sideways and that’s all right, they were just jealous of our beauty.”
But she expressed her gratitude for the Kennedy Center staff—“we love you”—acknowledging that “it’s not the easiest time,” but that she was grateful to see their “faces light up when we walked by and your words of encouragement and thanks.”
“Thank you friends for following us in that theater and thank you to everyone who cheered and congratulations to the cast,” she said. “I know there’s a lot going on in the world, alright, and you were just delightful and I loved it.”
She added: “You do what you can to fight the fight and take wind out of some people’s sails, alright, and change the narrative.”
“So hopefully we did that a little bit and we got to enjoy a beautiful show with talented musicians and talented singers and performers,” she said.
Hoot also reposted an Instagram Story from Julian Applebaum, who she said helped come up with the idea that the four of them walk into the Kennedy Center together “and twirl and get to our seats.”
The caption read: “@tarahoot looking fascism in the eye.”
