Drag Queen Bingo sells out in record 24 minutes

This year’s “Rhinestone Cowboy”-themed bingo will see the return of the Stilettos to Laramie. The queens will be raising money to assist those in Wyoming living with HIV and AIDS.

Laramie’s annual Drag Queen Bingo sold out in just 24 minutes this year, filling all 360 seats for the Hilton Garden Inn Ballroom in record time.

The Stilettos — a drag troupe that pulls its members from the nonprofit board of Wyoming AIDS Assistance — raise money for those in Wyoming living with HIV and AIDS.

Ambrosia Beaverhausen, a member of the troupe, said a lot of people mistakenly assume that AIDS is a problem of the past.

“AIDS is still an issue, particularly in a rural state like Wyoming where we don’t necessarily have resources or groups or a bevy of things that people can go to for help,” Beaverhausen said. “Wyoming still has only three HIV primary care providers for between 400-500 people.”

It’s true that an HIV diagnosis is no longer the death sentence it once was. When politicians stopped ignoring the disease — and human compassion and science were applied to the problem — treatments were found, tested and produced. Today, those living with a diagnosis and taking the proper treatment can live full, happy lives and even engage in sexual activity without fear of transmitting the disease.

But HIV cases are on the rise in Wyoming — driven in part by better testing, but also by spread among straight individuals, who often mistakenly believe they are not at risk.

With so few HIV specialists in the state of Wyoming, those residents living with a diagnosis have to travel long distances — to either Casper or Cheyenne — to access the care they need. The money raised by Drag Queen Bingo helps those travelers with the lodging, food, gas and other expenses they rack up simply by going to the doctor.

Drag Queen Bingo has been hosted in Laramie since 2002, and last year sold out completely in a then-record five hours. This year, tickets went on sale Monday at noon.

“I think VIP tickets were [sold] within the first five minutes, and DBQ+ tickets were within the first seven minutes,” Beaverhausen said, referring to the best and most expensive seats in the house.

By 12:15 p.m., all but one $20 ticket had been snatched and by 12:24 p.m., the show had sold that final seat.

Beaverhausen said they were “shocked” to see the tickets go so quickly but moved by the community’s support.

It could not come at a better time. Middle- to lower-income folks in Wyoming have been stung by the end of pandemic-era assistance programs — such as the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Their aid has been cut off, but the rent remains high, and for many that has pushed expensive trips to the doctor out of reach.

Beaverhausen said Wyoming AIDS Assistance has seen its caseload skyrocket.

“Our requests and our expenditures are probably up almost 60 percent from last year,” they said. “So there’s still a great need for what we do.”

The need is dire, but the event is never dull. The queens call bingo between performances, accept tips, demand checks and preside over dance breaks — dressing all of it up in raunchiness and sass, delivering on their annual promise to give the audience an event that is decidedly “not your grandmother’s church parlor bingo.”

Every year is themed and this year’s bingo will ask its performers and audience to engage with an aesthetic both fresh and familiar: Rhinestone Cowboy.

“I think it’s the first time in over 20 years we’ve actually done a western theme,” Beaverhausen said. “I’m excited to see what people pull out.”

The bingos aren’t just raucous and fun. They’re also wildly successful, having raised nearly $650,000 for the cause in the last two decades. In 2022, the troupe raised $42,000 during the one-night event. In 2023, they brought in $44,500, again in a single night.

Beaverhausen said they’re always shooting for more.

“I still have the goal in my mind that I want to make 50 grand,” they said. “I want to have a $50,000 event.”

Though it’s too late to buy tickets and attend, Wyoming AIDS Assistance is still accepting donations. The nonprofit can be reached via its email: wyomingaidsassistance@gmail.com or through its website.