The Gay Straight Alliance at Southeast Missouri State University is hosting its annual drag show on Thursday.

"The goal is to give the community an opportunity to explore further into a different experience," Amy Rubrich, president of GSA, said. "It's free to the public, and we do a Q-and-A panel at the end where people can ask the drag kings and queens questions and everybody just has fun."

The event, which will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom, is one of the biggest organizational events of the year.

"We had over 300 people last year," Rubrich said. "It was very surprising to me how many people actually showed up to it and we are expecting more this year because I go around and everybody [I talk to is] hyped up when they hear about it."

GSA has been working since the beginning of the semester to get the show ready, according to GSA vice president Katy Hooper.

"We start asking the kings and queens if they can make it to the event," Hooper said. "We have to start applying for funding because we get funding through student government and D.I.C.E. Then everyone in GSA, I think we have about 30 members, and we all do different things for the drag show. It takes all semester."

Hooper, who has been in GSA since being a freshman, was in charge of hiring the drag kings and queens.

"We only hire professional drag kings and queens for the drag show that we have in the fall and we typically like to get people from the St. Louis region to the Carbondale region because then they can drive and it's not too much of a hassle, and we ask some pretty well-known ones that are around in the area," Hooper said.

Hooper added that GSA hired eight performers this year, along with a "super special performance" for the show, with Khrystal Leight filling the role of MC.

"She's been doing drag for 20, maybe 30 plus years, and she brought drag to SEMO with a drag ball and she used to be on Independence Place here in Cape Girardeau, and she's won a ton of awards all throughout the US, like Miss Missouri at Large and Miss America at Large, and she is one of the most hilarious people I've ever met," Hooper said.

Other performers include ButterScotch, Riley James and Faim Lee Jewls.

"Last year we started incorporating drag kings because the previous shows had always been queens, and that's it. And I think a lot of people really enjoyed that," Hooper said. "I know a lot of the girls who went freaked out that there were drag kings."

Both Hooper and Rubrich said that the drag show was something that they thought all students should experience if they are at all open to going.

"A lot of people are hesitant to come because they'll Google what drag kings and queens are and they'll freak out about it, but you don't really know what it's like till you come to a drag show," Hooper said. "So I think it's a good experience that people have to see at least once."

"I went to my first ever drag show last year and I had a fantastic experience," Rubrich said. "I was one of those people on the fence on whether or not it was going to be good or not, but it was definitely great."

Rubrich added that GSA's overall goal is to work toward acceptance for what is currently known as the LGBT community but is slowly changing to GRSM, or gender, romantic and sexual minorities, to be more encompassing.

"It's just a very good group that accepts everyone, and you don't have to be a certain sect," Rubrich said. "You don't have to be gay to come here. You don't have to be trans. We have plenty of straight allies, so it's fantastic and everybody's incorporating and we're learning a lot."