A gay bar crowd of over 1,000 people in Bushwick, Brooklyn, cheered on the night of Thursday, April 16, as the opening lines of the melancholic ballad “We Are Charlie Kirk” played through the bar’s backyard speakers, a projected image of a waving U.S. flag appearing on a large screen onstage.
Drag performer Lauren Banall slowly appeared from stage left with a regal bearing, walking with the small flame of a lit lighter in her hands before pulling out a small bottle of eye drops from her red blazer pocket. She pretended to apply tears to her cheeks and then used a handkerchief to wipe them away amid her exaggerated sobs of grief.
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Banall had previously gone viral on TikTok for her Kirk impersonation of Erika Kirk, the widow of slain MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk, who was widely criticized for her flashy public appearances soon after his death. But Banall revived that imitation last Thursday, at I Want You for Turning Point U.S. Gay NYC, a right-wing parody show held at 3 Dollar Bill, a late-night gay bar in New York City.
The event attracted over 1,000 people and raised over $25,000 for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) while gogo boys in U.S. flag outfits danced for the audience and 10 drag performers satirically portrayed high-profile MAGA figures, like Kirk, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and even MAGA attorney Rudy Guilliani.
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“Drag has always been political. We’re making it clear what’s at stake, [but] at the same time, the show wasn’t a downer,” said the event’s lead organizer, Kiki Ball-Change, who portrayed First Lady Melania Trump in the show. “Ultimately, it’s about reminding people that the things we’re joking about have real-world consequences, and that queer people, especially, don’t have the luxury of separating politics from our everyday lives.”
But even more importantly, she told LGBTQ Nation, the event represented the latest instance of queer people pushing back against right-wing movements all over the world.
The event highlighted Kirk’s anti-LGBTQ+ conservative organization Turning Point USA and the ACLU, a progressive legal advocacy group fighting “repressive, authoritarian” anti-LGBTQ+ policies nationwide, Ball-Change said, because they “represent two very different visions for the country, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of speech.”
The White House tried to use Kirk’s death last September as a pretext for persecuting left-leaning activists. This followed a Department of Homeland Security policy change in February 2025, allowing federal agents to spy on LGBTQ+ people and groups as threats to U.S. safety. More recently, the administration’s newly proposed FBI budget seeks to target LGBTQ+ “terrorists” to combat “gender extremism” rather than the much more prevalent threat of right-wing Christian nationalists and militia groups in America.
The right-wing figures parodied in the drag show have been at the forefront of this anti-democratic movement. Kirk has sought to expand Turning Point USA as right-wing politicians introduce bills to force its chapters into public schools, and the organization continues to encourage right-wing students to identify educators “who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom” (often leading to death threats against those educators).
Meanwhile, Melania Trump has styled herself as her authoritarian husband’s fashion icon while remaining silent about his widespread civil rights abuses. Some of the other MAGA figures portrayed in the show — like Noem, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), MAGA musician Nicki Minaj, conspiracy theorist Candace Owens, and MAGA country musician Kid Rock have repeated the administration’s ugly conspiracy theories about trans people threatening kids and undermining American culture. Trump’s lawyers, like Giuliani and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, have provided flimsy legal justifications for the president’s corrupt and illegal actions.
Critics have blasted Banall for mocking Kirk’s grieving widow — some Instagram commenters have called her “a heartless demon,” “mental,” “disgusting,” or told her that she’s going to hell. Another segment of right-wing critics has claimed that drag itself is a misogynistic mockery of women that echoes blackface’s racist depiction of Black people. But Ball-Change says that view “misunderstands what drag actually is,” particularly because “blackface has a specific history rooted in racism and dehumanization.”
“Drag isn’t limited to men performing femininity,” she said. “It includes drag kings, AFAB [assigned female at birth] queens, and nonbinary performers, all engaging with gender in different ways. It’s a broad, expressive … queer art form rooted in self-expression, satire, and often a deep admiration for the figures being portrayed.”
While that might not be true for the MAGA figures that the performers parodied, Ball-Change said, “In this particular show, we weren’t targeting women. We were satirizing public figures, across genders, who hold power, specifically conservative politicians and cultural figures. Drag, like all satire and art, is about holding a mirror up to society. The goal isn’t to diminish women, it’s to challenge power, expose the blatant hypocrisy, and create space for audiences to laugh, think, and respond in their own way.”
The show’s roster of performers (and the MAGA figures they mocked) included:
- Kiki Ball-Change as First Lady Melania Trump
- Lauren Banall as Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk
- Brita Filter as MAGA musician Nicki Minaj
- Marti Gould Cumming as former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem
- Plasm as former Attorney General Pam Bondi
- Miss Ma’amshe as former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)
- Bertha Vanayshun as anti-LGBTQ+ MAGA conspiracy theorist Candace Owens
- Maxxx Pleasure as MAGA country rock musician Kid Rock
- Alvah Klempt as disgraced MAGA attorney Rudy Guilliani
- Uncle Freak as former New York City Mayor Eric Adams
The show also provided a brief platform for New York State Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who spoke at the show amid her run as a Democratic Socialist seeking a U.S. House seat (with the endorsement of fellow Democratic Socialist, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani). Both Valdez and Mamdani have boldly advocated for the rights of trans people, even as other Democrats have suggested abandoning trans rights to attract more mainstream voters.
“History shows us that when people come together, they can make monumental change. So, I want to remind people that there is still hope to be found, and still so much life to enjoy, despite the darkness around us,” Ball-Change said.
She said there’s evidence of people pushing back against right-wing movements worldwide. While a series of nationwide No Kings protests and demonstrations against the brutality of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have brought out record-sized crowds in the U.S., the citizens of Hungary just ousted their anti-LGBTQ+ authoritarian president of 20 years, Viktor Orban, in a stunning victory.
“It’s the light at the end of the tunnel that will guide us to the end of this mess. People need to laugh, they need to find community, they need to remember there’s still hope, joy, and love all around you,” she said.
“I hope audiences left with a sense of joy, but also a renewed feeling of hope,” Ball-Change said. “We’re living in a moment where things can feel very heavy, and one of the most effective tools of authoritarian movements is convincing people that change is impossible… that there’s no way forward but their way, but that’s not true.”
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