The U.S. Department of Education formally rescinded the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX rewrite, which expanded protections to people based on gender identity and sexual orientation, in September. The revocation comes as queer communities across the country face uncertainty over their rights and protections.
In San Luis Obispo, the drag scene has become a place where queer people can find acceptance, belonging and sometimes, a sense of family.
Current Drag Club President The Shimmer was originally worried about enrolling at Cal Poly. She has performed in drag for years and was anxious about the change in community. Luckily, her anxiety did not last long.
“We have such an amazing regular audience that is just so excited to show up and show out for queer anything in this area, because we know how important it is and how easily it can be taken away,” The Shimmer said.
By challenging traditional gender norms, drag is often at the center of political discussions. As an art form, it relies on its visibility, making it a target for hatred. Anti-drag discrimination heavily overlaps with current political strife over transgender rights, according to Fae Fatale, a 2024 Cal Poly animal science alum.
“So much of drag is born out of the most oppressed of the queer community. And the current state reminds us of the impermanence of the rights we have and all the progress we have made,” Fae Fatale said.
However, drag as a whole has never been politically neutral. Drag queens, kings and things have always been at the forefront of queer activism. As a result, many drag performers double as activists fighting for their community and, many times, their lives, according to Fae Fatale.
The activism has led to a growing support circle for queer students in San Luis Obispo, which has produced numerous queens, including Skinny Mocha, Norma Lee Masc, Fae Fatale and The Shimmer, who are either enrolled at Cal Poly or are now alumni staying on the Central Coast.
Norma Lee Masc is the program coordinator of orientation, or as she likes to call it: the WOWie wrangler. She graduated from Cal Poly in 2025 with her master’s in higher education, counseling and student affairs. Her experience in other drag scenes led her to set out and create a community in San Luis Obispo.
“One of the most common misconceptions is that drag queens are just ‘gay men dressing as a woman,’ which couldn’t be further from the truth. There are all types of drag, and all are valid. Anyone can do drag,” Norma Lee Masc said.
Drag is not only nightlife art but a performance they put on every day. Its culture celebrates non-conformity and explores gender identity.
“Everyone is doing drag always,” Fae Fatale said. “The choices you make every day, the way you style your hair, whether or not you put on makeup, the clothes you wear are all a performance of your gender and of your identity.”
For their monthly drag trivia, Fae Fatale and Norma Lee Masc always include a current events category as their only recurring category.
“As queer people, we don’t have the right or the privilege of political ignorance anymore,” Fae Fatale said. “All of the restrictions that are made on part of our community impact the rest of us.”
Right now, the two are working on a voter guide for the upcoming midterm on Nov. 3. They aim to make the guide accessible to everyone. They are focusing on Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County because they perform and have performers in both areas. The voter guide will include general election information as well as district information.
“People fought for the rights that we have now,” Fae Fatale said. “We continue to have that power, and we continue to be the people who young queer folk remember in 50 years and appreciate the work that we do now.”
The growing support circle for queer students in San Luis Obispo has resulted in numerous queens staying in the Central Coast after graduating from Cal Poly.
“I was so desperately looking for a queer community on the Central Coast,” Norma Lee Masc said. “I wanted it so bad I created it myself.”
In 2023, the club grew exponentially. Former Drag Club president and 2024 Cal Poly alum Skinny Mocha was largely responsible for building the club into something more.
“When I joined in 2018, the club consisted of about 10 members,” Skinny Mocha said. “I was the first president to partner with organizations and entities on campus to bring drag to audiences who had not seen or heard it before.”
Fae Fatale began performing drag at Cal Poly under Skinny Mocha’s presidency and attributes much of the club’s success to her.
“Skinny [Mocha] is truly a beacon of knowledge,” Fae Fatale said. “She was single-handedly running the entire drag club and organizing events and booking every [show] and doing interviews and protests in the community. I truly don’t know how she did it.”
For newer drag queens, the sense of welcome and belonging remains just as strong as the club continues to grow.
The sense of community surpasses just the performers and reaches their ever-growing audiences, according to Norma Lee Masc.
“Within the last year, that community has grown from our family being the only audience members to selling out venues and having regulars at our monthly events,” Norma Lee Masc said.
As the Central Coast drag scene keeps growing, they aim to build a community that refuses to disappear.
This story originally appeared in the October printed edition of Mustang News. Check out more stories from the issue here.