Filled with sky-high heels, strobing lights and fake eyelashes, USC's 27th annual Birdcage drag performance broke its own record with 19 performers.
Music blasted throughout the Russell House ballroom and students collectively raised their voices when Birdcage took off at 7 p.m. on April 16.
Drag queen Heidi N Closet headlined the event. Heidi N Closet is a North Carolinian drag queen who won Miss Congeniality in RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 in 2019.
Heidi N Closet co hosted the event with fellow drag artist Paris Lefaris.
Individuals Respecting Identities and Sexualities (IRIS) , one of USC’s LGBTQIA+ clubs, organized Birdcage along with Carolina Productions. IRIS chose the performers, and Carolina Productions funded the event.
IRIS took into consideration that Birdcage may be some students’ first drag performance when choosing a headliner, IRIS development director and graduate student Bernie McIlay said.
“We are trying to give them someone that has a full breadth of abilities that they can show off in front of the audience," McIlay said. ”We really want to give them a moment, and we feel that Heidi N Closet is in that legacy of amazing performers who we are so happy to have here.”
Heidi N Closet shared the stage with local drag performers like Oliver Clothesoff and Medusa Chaos and groups such as Kings and Things and Capital Club. Mcllay said they were grateful to Columbia’s local drag community for supporting the event.
“It is such an honor that every year, we have people clamoring to be a part of our event. Because we're just some college kids,” McIlay said. “It's an honor. It's a privilege that they would actively seek out and want to be a part of what we do here. It means a lot.”
Student drag artists also made an appearance during the event, McIlay said.
Having debuted at Gaymecock drag pageant, seven contestants performed a runway walk to display their drag looks midway through the show. The 2025 Gaymecock drag pageant took place on March 30 and was the 16th of its kind, where one student was crowned Ms. Gaymecock.
Third-year media arts student Sashi Yvas’s performed as Augusta Wind. Yvas said she was excited to take the stage.
“After putting in so much work on the concept of this persona, I want people to see this,” Yvas said. “I want to show her (Augusta Wind) off.”
While the 27th annual Birdcage marks a lot of firsts, there are some students who appear annually to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Carolina Productions president Aniya Nelson, a fourth-year visual communications student, said that students' enthusiasm is her favorite part of Birdcage.
“It's just a night where students can come and have fun and be themselves, which is really exciting,” Nelson said. “There's always great energy at Birdcage.”
Graduate student Samantha Casey was hooked on the event ever since she first attended in 2020, she said.
“Every time I have come to the show, each one has been better than the last,” Casey said. “So I am super excited to see what Heidi N Closet and the rest of our local drag kings and queens bring this year.”
After the event, local drag performers were available for a meet and greet outside of the ballroom.
Birdcage is one of the last of IRIS' LGBTQ events for the year, McIlay said. Thinking of the event fills them with pride, they said .
"It's really cool, and I appreciate the support the university has been able to give us in making this happen," McIlay said.