Meet the queens taking York by storm

Emily Goodwin | Editor-in-Chief

Featured Image: Star, Gila Münster (left), and Aurora Matrix (middle) before the start of February’s show. | Courtesy of Jordan Chu/Excalibur

Over the last two years, the Keele campus has had an increasing number of events featuring drag queens. From shows at Winters College Council’s Rainbow Mondays to the YFS’ Dirty Bingo nights, drag queens in the York community have their foot in the door, and show no signs of slowing down with their high-energy, interactive performances.

On Wednesday, February 12, McLaughlin College Council and the McLaughlin College Peer Mentors Network partnered up to host its own drag show — the McLaughlin College Drag Race 2020. This event took place in the Absinthe Pub & Coffee Shop, located in the basement of Winters College and is a frequent host of drag events.

The host of the event and brains behind it all, Gila Münster, a fourth-year criminology and professional writing student, came up with the idea after hosting a similar event this past Hanukkah with Hillel York.

   After consulting with our students, we realized that we had so many students that weren’t seeing themselves represented and they weren’t seeing any events for them. So, we asked, ‘What do you want to see?’ and they said, ‘We want a big party.’ So we came up with the 8 Gays of Hanukkah,” Münster says of the December event.

The 8 Gays of Hanukkah featured five drag queens including Münster, two singers, and a stand-up comedian. “It was incredible because it was just an evening of celebration and it was on the first night of Hanukkah,” Münster continues.

Münster opened the February show with a performance of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, floating around the pub like the butterfly she was dressed as: an orange and black dress with matching wings and dazzling jewels around her eyes. Following her performance, McLaughlin College Council president Alec Pichelli, a fifth-year commerce student, took to the stage to welcome everyone, introduce the college, and read a land acknowledgement.

After Pichelli’s speech, Münster resumed her role of the charismatic hostess who was unafraid to take well-meaning jabs at the audience to refocus its attention. Having the opportunity to organize and host drag events is important to Münster. “I grew up in a town with no gay people and no queer representation,” she says. “I discovered RuPaul’s Drag Race in eighth grade, and was watching it in secret being like, ‘Have you guys heard of this thing?’ And of course no one had.”

Immediately after high school, Münster worked at Sephora and Dior. “I was touching faces all the time, and the natural progression I think was to eventually do it on myself,” she says.

Münster, who is also one of the co-ordinators of the McLaughlin College Peer Mentors Network, was immediately met with support when she began approaching people with the idea of the event. “People were instantly on board,” she says.

“I was really ecstatic when Gila approached me with the idea for the drag show,” says Pichelli. “I think the McLaughlin community, and York as a whole, is becoming more inclusive and welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, and to be able to put together something to showcase that pride is really powerful.”

One of many things Münster had to do to organize the event was find queens willing to compete. She found Aurora Matrix and Star, who are both currently completing their undergrads at York and are familiar faces to York’s drag scene.

Matrix, a second-year acting conservatory theatre major, and Star, a third-year devised theatre major, have performed at many York events over the last year, many of which were with fellow York queen Aurelie Dubois with whom the trio dubs themselves the Hole-y Trinity.

For both Matrix and Star, doing drag just made sense. “I’ve always been very into performance and make-up,” says Matrix.

“I’ve been performing since I was three years old, so I’ve been involved in the performing arts my whole life. In 2015 I came out and since then I have been very into make-up. About a year ago I decided that I might as well just put my two worlds together — make-up and theatre — and create this whole monstrosity that is Aurora Matrix,” she continues.

Star also began performing at a young age. “Since the age of three or four, just every year consecutively being in school talent shows, musicals, plays, and doing dance at school. Being very involved with musical theatre and theatre branched off into performing in drag.”

Her comfort on stage helped her get her career off the ground. “I used my skills from the arts and I started doing make-up around 2012-2013. I had experience with my face, but then it was just adapting it into femininity and getting wigs and all that stuff,” she says.

If their opening performances at the McLaughlin College event show us anything about these queens, it’s that their ability to command the audience bodes well for their rapidly-growing careers.

Following Matrix and Star’s opening numbers, they had a series of challenges to complete that were scored by a panel of judges from McLaughlin College Council. The first challenge required the queens to make over a volunteer from the audience to look like they were related to the queen, and to do so in only three minutes. Matrix won after making her “drag daughter” look most like her.

For the second challenge, Münster asked the queens to make the audience laugh by roasting McLaughlin College and York as a whole. Star’s roast of Scott Library earned her the win in this challenge. Her and Matrix went on to tie in the final challenge: a lap dance on a volunteer from the audience.

This competition, and all of the past York competitions, have never felt particularly competitive to Star. “It’s so refreshing to see that the performers who have come through York or are still here are just having a good time, enjoying being on the stage, and spreading love to the audience through their art.” This night full of fun challenges came shortly after Matrix and Star celebrated their one-year anniversaries of doing drag. Since starting out, both have performed regularly at open stage events in the Gay Village, something which they believe has helped their careers immensely.

   Going to open stages is a big reason I got my start and got my name out there. That’s just how bigger queens recognized that I’m putting in work,” says Star.

“A lot of new queens are always asking, ‘How do you get recognized? How did you guys start getting bookings?’ and I always push for them to go to open stages. Even though it’s not paid, it’s a very good opportunity to go on a bigger stage and experience what it’s like to be on stage with other queer performers,” Matrix adds.

As a result of her open stage performances, Matrix had some other Toronto queens reach out to her to perform at shows during 2019 Pride events in the city. She also won the Haus of Cards competition held by Winters College last year.

Star is a two-time winner of the Crews & Tango Star Search, a competition that showcases the talents of emerging drag queens. After a tie-breaker lip sync battle with Matrix, Star claimed yet another victory and took home the crown as the first winner of McLaughlin College Drag Race.

This year, Star will be on the House of Curry float at the Toronto Pride Parade. Both queens are hoping to have the opportunity to have their own regular shows in the Gay Village, located at Church and Wellesley Streets.

Their success would look different if it weren’t for the role that York and its queer community has played in shaping them to the queens they are today.

Matrix’s first experience with drag was during a 2018 frosh event, where Erin Brockobic — a Toronto queen who frequently performs at Glad Day Drag Brunches and other Pride events — did a show on campus.

   One of my drag sisters and I, Aurelie Dubois, saw how much love and positivity was being spread throughout our little community here at York just from that and we wanted to make sure that that was a recurring thing,” she says.

Star echoed that sentiment. “I enjoy performing at York because we go to school here and it’s so nice to see all these familiar faces. It also exposes everyone to drag and helps everyone understand what drag is.”

For Münster, it’s about sharing positive experiences. “My personal experience at York has been a very positive one that doesn’t go with that common negative narrative so I wanted to share the narrative that I do have here — that I do feel accepted and supported.”

Even so, there is still more to be done to improve acceptance and support at York. “The only way we are going to get there is by showing up and getting the gigs and putting a smile on people’s faces,” Münster continues.

The success of the McLaughlin College Drag Race makes Münster and Pichelli hopeful that it will continue to be an annual event even after Münster graduates in the spring.

“I’m glad to have been a part of its foundation and I hope this is something that trends in the community for years to come,” Pichelli concludes.

Negin Hamesh, a first-year sociology student, was also exposed to drag for the first time at the on-campus McLaughlin College event. “Where I’m from, we don’t have anything like this. I got an e-mail about the event, and was coming for sure,” says Hamesh. “Especially right before reading week.”

Despite now having successful careers outside of York, all three queens will always see the university as their home, and will continue to come back to the place that gave them their start.

“York, and especially Winters College, have given Star and I so many opportunities, as well as our drag sister Aurelie Dubois. The Ab has been such an amazing venue for us, and every single show there’s an amazing turnout,” says Matrix.

“The Ab has been absolutely amazing and has given us an opportunity to learn how to host and throw a little party for the gay community at York specifically within Winters College,” she continued.

With the support of Winters College being a great start, it isn’t the only college with something to offer the LGBTQ+ community. “McLaughlin’s a lot gayer than people think it is,” says Münster.

   I attempted to bridge work with my identity and my interest in showing everyone how wonderful drag can be in this event,” Münster continued. She thinks events like this one will help continue the growth of representation of people of colour and LGBTQ+ people. As for extending their performances to the Glendon campuses, the queens have no plans to do so right now, but they are open to it. “If they’ve got a cheque, I’ve got the talent,” Münster says of the idea.

Though York’s drag scene may still be in its infancy, there is no shortage of good vibes throughout the community. For Star, whose first performance was in the Ab, every performer she has come across has been positive and unique.

“It’s so refreshing to see the performers who have come through York or are still here are having a good time and enjoying being on the stage where they spread love to the audience through their art.”

York’s drag community also isn’t a one-person show. “We recognize each other’s strengths and we play them up rather than being deluded into thinking we’re in a competition against each other,” says Münster. “Even when there is a competition, there’s still so much love.”

“If you put good out into the world, into our little community that we’ve created, you’re bound to get something back in return at some point,” says Matrix. “And not that you should be doing it for something in return, just putting good into the world is something you should always be doing.”

The queens do not currently have any shows scheduled at the Ab for the rest of the year, but that doesn’t mean they have grown beyond the place that helped them get their starts.

“York is where I found my second family,” says Matrix. “The York family will always be deep in my heart and will always have a place in me.”

“It’s special being able to perform at your school,” adds Star.

Their familiarity with the York community has helped them to experiment with their performances, largely due to the friendly faces who make it to the on-campus shows and knowing their audience is a group of peers. “We know they will be honest with us and are willing to give us feedback that will help us to grow and become bigger and better queens than we are now,” Matrix says. They also see the role that York has played in shaping some of their Toronto drag role models.

“When I’m in the Gay Village and see kings and queens who went to York and now I see them there, I can really see that their roots are here at York and they’ve gone through all of this hard training and it pays off,” says Matrix of York alumni performers making a name for themselves.

In the meantime, these young queens will be keeping busy. Matrix, Star, and Münster will be performing throughout Toronto over the next month.

Matrix will be at Woody’s March 8, 16, and 19 and at Glad Day Bookshop’s Sunday drag brunch on March 22 at 11:00 a.m. Star will be performing at Calumet College’s annual formal on February 29.

Münster will be at The Beaver on March 9 at 8:30 p.m. and at The Drink on March 12.