Students and community groups will gather tonight to celebrate and support the diversity of sexual minorities.

The ASUW Gay Bisexual Lesbian Transgender Commission (GBLTC)’s annual Drag Competition will take place this Friday in the HUB.

“Simply put, drag is when a person of one gender dresses and behaves like another gender, not necessarily just male and female because there are multiple genders,” GBLTC Director Yecelica Valdivia said.

This year’s show will depart from the traditionally white male-centric conception of drag and include and create a safe environment for queer people of color.

“A lot of queer people of color do feel alone, and this event will help them to find a community and see that there are resources for them,” she said. “Queer spaces are often very white male-dominated, and there are rifts between different groups in the queer community, where people of color are often pushed out.”

The show will be emceed by Hiram Calf Looking, a Native American drag queen, and will feature five student performers with musical acts. Also, burlesque cabaret dancer Xandra Ibarra will do a high-femme performance and a performance in male drag.

Student Regent Erin Lennon, drag performance group PMS and the director of Entre Hermanos will be on the panel of judges. Performances are evaluated based on creativity, the drag itself, overall performance, crowd interaction and stage presence.

Organizations from Seattle’s queer community, such as Seattle Black Pride, Gay City, Northwest Two-Spirit Society and Entre Hermanos will be present, along with student organizations Queer People of Color, the fraternity Delta Lambda Phi and the UW’s Queer women and Trans Individual’s Interest Group (QTIG).

Entre Hermanos shares in Valdivia’s vision of creating a unified queer community.

“Our organization is here to serve the Latino GBLT community,” said Marcos Martinez, the director of Entre Hermanos. “We felt that it was important for us to be there at the drag show. I totally support Yecelica and her vision.”

Not only are queer people of color often underrepresented, they are also disproportionably affected by HIV/AIDS.

“In King County 6 percent of the population is Latino, but they represent 9 percent of people affected by HIV/AIDS — and it’s even worse in the African-American community,” Martinez said. “Entre Hermanos does community outreach, and we try to encourage people to have safe sex.”

Support for AIDS prevention and research will also be Delta Lambda Phi’s focus. They will collect clothing to donate to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s thrift store and will raise money for the fraternity’s Relay for Life fundraising efforts.

“[Drag] challenges the notion of what gender is by pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a woman or a man,” Valdivia said. “Gender identity and appearance do not have to go together. Appearance isn’t everything.”

[Reach reporter Sonia McBride at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]