I know with the title of this MOZ, this is not the picture you expected. However, this is my outfit for Winter is a Drag Ball, which is tonight. My outfit though will have a black shirt and a sequined jacket. The theme tonight is “Be Who You Be.” I wanted to share something from an article in The Bridge, a Montpelier, VT based newspaper:

“I think that in this day and age people need encouragement to express themselves,” reflected Bob Bolyard, who performs as drag queen Amber LeMay. “One thing people always say to me is, ‘I don’t want to dress up as an opposite gender. I don’t want to be in drag.’ And I say, ‘Everyone is in drag every day. Whatever you wear to work could be considered drag, because you’re representing something you aren’t. Everyone has that one piece of clothing in their closet that they want to wear but never get an opportunity to wear it. The Drag Ball is the opportunity to wear it.”

On February 15, the House of LeMay and the Vermont People with AIDS Coalition will host the “Winter is a Drag Ball Silver Jubilee.” The event, celebrating its 25th year, opens at 7:30 pm at Higher Ground in South Burlington. The seated show begins at 8 pm with a performance by Rev. Yolanda, one of the original organizers of the Drag Ball, which has raised more than a quarter-million dollars for the Vermont People with AIDS Coalition.