First Place: Jade X

Getting to be well recognized within the drag scene and building up confidence and courage is not something that happens overnight. Jade X is no stranger to this. 

She has worked her way up from practically empty bars to being one of the top names in the Kent drag scene. She is officially Kent’s Best Drag Queen. 

“I knew that coming into it, I had to pay my dues,” Jade X said. “I went down to a bar in Warren where it was four hillbillies in the corner watching sports on the TV—I got paid zero dollars. I made outfits every single week, I made mixes every single week, I went out there and I put my best foot forward.” 

The effort that Jade X put into her drag work has landed her with thousands of followers, and a portfolio filled with many drag performances. She has gone from performing to hosting. She even began producing years ago with Kent’s own Mx. Zephyr drag show. 

Through her drag career Jade X has built up her confidence and overcome her stage anxiety. 

“I started off performing and I used to have to have a couple of Tito’s and Red Bulls to get up on that stage because I had such terrible anxiety,” the drag queen said. 

However, her experiences within the drag scene led her to come into her own and let go of her fears. 

“It was kind of like throwing yourself in the deep end of the pool and learning how to swim kind of situation. Then once you kind of master that, you kind of realize that other people’s thoughts are just that, they’re just their thoughts,” she said.

Not only was Jade X able to radiate confidence on stage, but her drag experiences led her to become more confident in her personal life as well. 

“Through doing drag and having to face that, it’s really given me the freedom to just be who I am, not only in drag, but outside of drag. Just to let go of all of that [negativity] and just live this very short life that we’re given the way that I want to do it, and not really care about other people’s perception of me,” Jade X said. 

Other drag queens and queer artists have been a role model for Jade X and it is their words and inspiration that helped get her to where she is today. 

“Well, I think that Mother Ru said it best, that the power that you have in drag is available to you out of drag as well and I always thought that was a little bit of mumbo jumbo, but it really is true,” Jade X said. 

Second Place: Cabaretta 

Emerging from a small town just outside of Pittsburgh, Cabaretta came to Kent and made a name for herself within just two years. 

The young drag performer is only 20 but has accomplished a lot in the past four years. 

In the couple of years she has been here in Kent alone, she has competed in Mx. Zephyr, allowing her to connect with other local drag queens, and make her name known amongst the Kent population. 

“I’m only 20, so it’s a little crazy. It doesn’t feel right at first, but after talking to people in this scene, they’re all kind of just like, ‘you know what, girl? You’re doubting yourself,’” Cabaretta said. 

Growing up in a small town left Cabaretta feeling isolated from the queer community. At the age of 15 she found drag, and at 16 she began performing drag from the comfort of her bedroom, giving her some connection and sense of queer belonging. 

“I can do it from anywhere. I don’t need to be in a bar, I can do it for my bedroom and it also kind of gave me a reason to have a community with other queer people out there,” the drag queen said.

For Cabaretta the art of drag is a natural calling and who she feels she is meant to be. It is a way for her to creatively express herself and add more pizzazz into her life. 

“I also kind of felt bored being a boy every day, and, you know, I just needed to live it up, and it kind of has become like the only thing I think about,” the drag artist said. 

Cabaretta is incredibly proud of the recognition she has come to receive here in Kent, and the love people have shown for her art. 

“I’m just happy to be seen, and that my art would be seen,” she said.   

Third Place: Mary O’Nette

Being in Kent has allowed Mary O’Nette to not only find a uniquely queer space but thrive in it as well. 

“I could tell as soon as I got to Kent, five years ago, that it was a very queer heavy space, and I feel like I just immediately was submerged in queer joy,” Mary O’Nette said. “I remember journaling about it after my first few drag shows on campus.” 

The drag queen started off doing makeup looks in her bedroom and photoshoots in her bathroom mirror as a way to channel her emotions just a few short years ago. 

Now she’s gotten the chance to compete in drag competitions such as Cleveland’s own Mx. Classless Act. 

Mary O’Nette is incredibly proud of how she has come to be recognized as a top drag queen performer in the Kent area. She added that the recognition meant a lot to her, especially due to the fact that she is so new to the scene. 

“For me it (the recognition) means acceptance because I’m so new to the drag scene, and I held off on entering it publicly for a while … It’s kind of a scary thing to do so it means a lot that people see me and appreciate what I’m doing,” the drag queen said.

She paid homage to the North Eastern Ohioan drag queens that paved the way for her.  

“So many actual legends come out of Kent, Onya Nerve, Coma [Comatose], and Monica Mod, it means a lot to be placed on the same pedestal as people like them,” Mary O’Nette said.