The Duke Ellington Ballroom’s disco ball hung proudly Thursday night as Campus Activity Board hosted the D.R.A.G Show as one of many events on campus in honor of LGBT History Month.

The university has shown acceptance and support of its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students through the LGBT Outreach Center, located on the seventh floor of the Student Center, as well as NIU Prism. But some students were surprised by the university’s willingness to endorse Thursday’s D.R.A.G. Show.

“I didn’t think the school would allow something like this, but I think it’s awesome,” said freshman sociology major Kaitlynn Hughes.

D.R.A.G. Show was hosted by junior communications major Jasmine Lewis and Mackenzie L’Amore, the drag persona of senior sociology major Mack Lewis. The hosts had to work hard to reel in the rowdy crowd members, who were dancing in their seats and chatting so loud they nearly drown out the blaring music before the show had even started.

The evening’s entertainment was comprised entirely of drag and pro-LGBT performers. First onstage was Sinfully Good, a trio of muscular male dancers that shook their booties while dressed in Daisy Dukes and fully unbuttoned white collared shirts.

Also taking the stage was Ana Dior (former NIU student William Baker). Dior was the clear favorite of the drag entertainment Thursday night. In addition to lip-syncing and busting a mean move, Dior riled up the crowd when she sat down on the stage and got a little, well, intimate, showing her aptitude for hip control. The show was riddled with wardrobe malfunctions, but the crowd rooted Dior on after her wig fell off during a particularly passionate dance.

“I loved it,” Dior said. “Although I had to take the wig off. It’s getting too hot up in this b*tch!”

The headliner for the D.R.A.G. show was Sherry Vine, the Weird Al Yankovic of the drag queen world. Vine parodies popular songs, replacing the lyrics with her own. Her first parody was set to the tune of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.” However, Vine’s version was about pooping in the bushes on the walk home and seeing corn in it.

The D.R.A.G. of the show stands for “Diversity Respects All Genders,” and though the audience of the show were some of the nicest, most fun and supportive people I have met since I came to NIU, I think there is something to be said for not cutting yourself off at the knees.

The D.R.A.G. Show was entertaining and funny, but it was also sexually explicit and crude at times. The LGBT community shouldn’t sell itself short by associating their cause with graphic material and events, especially when the stakes are so high. October, as LGBT History Month, provides the perfect opportunity to reach out to members of our NIU community who are not as supportive of the LGBT community. By providing this kind of event without censorship, it opens the door for negativity towards the community, not based on gender or politics, but simply on the content of the show.