The queer community and its allies at Florida Atlantic University have lost too much over the past several years.
FAU’s Center for Inclusion, Diversity Education and Advocacy closed. The university’s longtime drag show changed its name, restricted its audience and disappeared from the fall calendar in 2025. Students lost a place to find community and a tradition they could look forward to every year.
On Nov. 20, we’re bringing that tradition back.
OutSFL and our student publication, OutFAU, are working with the Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, to put drag back onstage at FAU. For us, it’s a chance to stand up for the First Amendment and for the queer students and allies who call this campus home. Freedom of expression matters on a stage just as much as it does on the pages of a newspaper.
Over the past several years, simply putting on a drag show in Florida has become a political statement. Gov. Ron DeSantis helped make it one. His administration pushed restrictions that put pressure on venues and threatened performers’ ability to practice their art. Now, as DeSantis prepares to say goodbye to the governor’s mansion, we’re saying hello to drag.
And we intend to give it one hell of a welcome.
The venue alone costs $10,000. We’re grateful to our financial sponsors, SPJ Florida and The Our Fund Foundation, for helping us get the doors open. Now we need you to walk through them.
Every dollar of ticket proceeds goes to the performers. Drag is their work, and buying a ticket supports their livelihoods. If you can’t make it, you can still support the artists by buying a ticket for someone who can. And whether you’re coming or cheering us on from home, please share the ticket link.
The OutFAU Drag Show returns Friday, Nov. 20, at the Carole and Barry Kaye Auditorium on FAU’s Boca Raton campus. General admission is $10, FAU students can reserve free tickets, and the show is open to adults 18 and older.
