Drag Queen Bingo fills the house amid national attacks on drag

An annual fundraiser to help Wyomingites living with HIV and AIDS sold out in five hours, underscoring a community’s eagerness to support it. But security concerns are more pressing than ever.

Tickets for Laramie’s annual Drag Queen Bingo went on sale at noon last Saturday. All told, the venue allows for 360 seats, which were priced between $15 and $30 a piece. Those seats, especially the VIP tables, go fast, but drag performer Ambrosia Beaverhausen said there are usually tickets available for a few weeks.

“We will always have straggler tables,” they said. “The ones in the back corner are the ones that are kind of partially obstructed that won't sell until a couple of weeks before the event.”

Not so this year. The entire event was sold out in five hours. VIP tables were gone in five minutes.

“Honestly, we thought the website had broken,” Beaverhausen said.

The unprecedented interest comes amid an eventful time in the world of drag. Many well-known drag legends have recently died (including perhaps the world’s oldest performer Darcelle XV). And right-wing attacks on the very existence of drag have led to protests, prohibitions and violence.

“And so it's like the community's fighting back,” Beaverhausen said. “(They’re) saying, ‘No, this is part of our community. We love them. We support them.’”

The Stilettos pose for a photo during a royalty-themed Drag Queen Bingo in Laramie. // Photo courtesy of Ambrosia Beaverhausen

‘Not your grandmother’s church parlor bingo’

Laramie’s annual Drag Queen Bingo has become a staple of the city’s cultural calendar. Each year, the Stilettos — a troupe of performers from across the state — gather in the Hilton Garden Inn Ballroom for an event they proudly bill as “not your grandmother’s church parlor bingo.”

The event is a raucous, raunchy time, with individual performances, dedicated dance times and — of course — bingo. The nights are themed and attendees are encouraged to dress the part. Throughout the evening, attendees buy drinks, slip money to performers and respond to direct calls for donations.

The giving has increased steadily for the last two decades of Drag Queen Bingo, although it took a dip during the first year of the pandemic when the bingo had to be canceled. But DQB donations have more recently exploded, Beaverhausen said.

“In those 20-odd years, it's raised right about $600,000,” they said. “Last year was our biggest year; our bingo raised $42,000.”

And that money is well spent. The annual bingo is a production of WyoAIDS Assistance, a nonprofit with a uniquely Wyoming mission.

“Our mission is to help people in Wyoming living with HIV and AIDS,” Beaverhausen said. “In Wyoming, having HIV is difficult.”

There are only three primary care HIV specialists in the state and their offices are in Cheyenne and Casper.

“And so if you live in Jackson or Powell you’re going to have to travel somewhere,” Beaverhausen said. “A lot of people go up to Montana. If you need a pediatrician, if you're a child and you have HIV, our closest is Denver or Salt Lake City.”

And even the travel costs associated with accessing care — to say nothing of the care itself — can sink an individual or family. So WyoAIDS raises money through Drag Queen Bingo to cover travel, housing, utilities or medications costs — helping with the little things before they can add up.

A poster advertising this year’s sold-out Drag Queen Bingo. // Artwork courtesy of Ambrosia Beaverhausen

Planning for the future, upping security

The Stilettos’ bingo happens once a year, so anyone who missed the chance to buy tickets is likely out of luck until next year. But Beaverhausen said they and the other performers are thinking about how they might expand.

“That's something we're gonna have to talk about when we all convene for bingo this year,” they said. “We don't have a bigger space to do a bigger annual bingo — the ballroom’s about as big as you can get. Believe me, I've talked to UW so see if they have a bigger space and they don't. And so we've talked about maybe just doing some other, smaller events.”

That could mean hosting an event during Pride Month or during World AIDS Day, which is in December. But nothing is set in stone.

“We've talked about doing something like that — but again, it's just kind of finding the right venue and making it cost-effective,” Beaverhausen said. “It's great that bingo raises so much money, but it's also really expensive to put on.”

For the bingo itself, Beaverhausen said the dream is raising $50,000 in a night — that’s just $8,000 more than the record the Stilettos set last year.

“If we ever hit it, I would probably retire gracefully,” Beaverhausen said with a laugh. “I really want to hit $50,000. We're getting closer every year, we're tasting it, but $50,000 would be incredible.”

This year, however, the planning, practice and fundraising are not the only issues on the performers’ minds. The drag community — like the larger LGBTQ community — is under attack. Drag queens and drag performances have been hit with a particularly harsh spotlight this year. The Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs was carried out the night before a planned Drag Show for Trans Day of Remembrance. Other drag events have been swarmed with angry and sometimes armed protestors. And the state of Tennessee just outlawed drag performances (that ban is being challenged in court and was temporarily halted last week).

All of this means the Stilettos have to think about security and policing at their events. Beaverhausen said they’ll likely work with the University of Wyoming Police Department, which has been supportive of the bingo in the past.

Selling out in five hours was exciting, they said, and shows that this year has a chance of hitting that $50,000 — or of at least outperforming all previous years.

“But, you know, we're also realistic,” Beaverhausen said. “This is kind of the first year that we've actually had to figure out, ‘Okay, what's the police presence?’ ‘What's the security presence we need to have, just in case?’”

Tickets might be sold out, but those wishing to help Wyomingites living with HIV/AIDS can still donate through the WyoAIDs Assistance website.