Meet the Queens: Strike Magazine GNV Drag Show
Peek Behind the Curtain: Kelly Kelly’s Journey from PS2 to Performing
A dedication to fun fashion, an arts background and a hot wrestler as inspiration: Gainesville’s Kelly Kelly is a renaissance drag queen.
Set to host Strike Magazine’s Strike Drag Show on Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. at How Bazar, Kelly Kelly is a staple performer at University Club.
Credits: Black Rose Photography
Kelly was an artsy Gainesville native even before she first strutted onto the stage. Growing up, she participated in musical theater, choir, dance production and plays.
When she played Angel, a LGBTQ+ character, in “Rent” during senior year of high school, Kelly discovered she wanted to entertain through drag.
Armed with ambition, Kelly threw it back to the early 2000s in choosing her name. She and her siblings would play WWE SmackDown vs. Raw! on a Playstation 2. Kelly always chose Kelly Kelly, a female wrestler, as her avatar.
“I always thought Kelly Kelly was the prettiest and the hottest, so that was like me. I just stole her name,” she said.
Their stars collided when one of Kelly’s friends met the wrestler at a convention in Tampa and told her about her Gainesville superfan. The O.G. Kelly Kelly signed a photo, and it’s one of Kelly’s most prized possessions.
“I have the actual Kelly Kelly seal of approval, too,” she said.
Another personal icon of Kelly’s, Lady Pearl, who is often credited for bringing drag to Gainesville, served as a mentor.
“She told me, ‘If you’re gonna do it, do it right.’ She got me together.” Kelly said, noting the Gainesville gay community’s closeness.
“Because it’s such a rural area, we watch our own, we take care of our own,” she said. “We’re in the middle of a shady place, so we all support each other, we all love each other, and we don’t tolerate threats to that. It's very close-knit, guarded, and protective, because it has to be.”
But it’s not strictly a serious group.
“We’re fun and we party all the time,” Kelly said.
When it’s time for the lights to go down, Kelly’s show rituals revolve around fashion, formula and a fatty.
On performance day, Kelly largely controls creative direction, setting the scene with music, lighting and staging.
“I’ve found in my time in the industry, if you aren’t in control of your ship, it’s just gonna sink,” she said.
As far as outfits go, Kelly has one key rule: the fashion has to flash.
“Sequins, glitter, straps, lace, buckles, boots, gloves, all that, give me all that.”
With music, Kelly incorporates range, citing “WAP” and Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All” as her go-to’s.
Outside of her signature serenades, Kelly opts for hip-hop.
“I’m not the country gal, or the EDM or pop gal,” she said. “I like a good old booty-shakin’ show.”
Before the booty-shakin’ starts, Kelly sits back with a double-scotch, neat, a red bull and a blunt.
Kelly performs at University Club every Friday and every second Saturday; as at Incahoots in Jacksonville every second and fourth Saturday; and at Vecino’s every other week.
Outside of these, she said she loves performing at events that wouldn’t necessarily be expected.
“I love having drag in our small, little, college, country town,” she said, “I grew up east of Gainesville, and it would have been much different for me to see people like me around. I hope I can be that inspiration. I want to inspire the LGBTQ youth to be free and creative.”
As far as her plans for December 4th, Kelly played it coy but left us with one hint for her performance.
“Tell them: ‘It’s time,’” she said.
The Art of Drag: A Profile on Peach’s Ros’e
“I wanted a name that people will remember,” Peach’s said.
The desire to be unique is an intrinsic part of who she is – inextricable from her individuality. She does not want to be a duplicate. She wants to be Peach’s Ros’e. With a name no one else will have and a carefully curated creative direction, she takes the stage with the knowledge that she is paving her own way.
Credits: Peach’s Ros’e
When she was 19 years old, Peach’s started attending drag shows at University Club (UC). She was mesmerized by the queens’ performances, and something inside her told her she needed to get up there. Growing up, she was passionate about dancing and cosmetics.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “If you put makeup and dance together, what do you have? Drag.”
With encouragement from her drag mom, London Darling, she showed up to UC on Jan. 30, 2021, and put on her first drag show – with no formal training. She never looked back.
Throughout her nearly 2-year-long experience in the drag community, Peach’s has found her niche. Inspired by iconic individuals like Shangela – but imitating no one – she has created an outlet for expressiveness that she cannot imagine her life without.
In exercising complete creative control over her performances, Peach’s has honed her artistic skills. She choreographs her dances, adds her own personal touches to her costumes and meticulously crafts makeup looks that will allow her to reach her ultimate goal – to create an illusion of another person.
Peach’s is particularly grateful for the support she has felt from the Gainesville community; she is loyal to them and eager to help them however she can.
“They support me, why not support them? The support is what keeps everything going.”
UC has become her home, and she emphasizes how she feels the most comfortable there. While Peach’s travels out of town for shows sometimes, her heart is always with UC.
Strike Gainesville’s Drag Show on Dec. 4, 2022, is Peach’s’ next big project. It’s different from what she usually does, but the newness is something she is fully embracing. “This event is big to me, and I’m taking it very seriously,” she said. She added that she thinks the team at Strike Magazine Gainesville is “badass and professional” – and I didn’t even tell her to say that.
Peach’s has surprises up her sparkly, sequined sleeves. Festive music and eye-catching fashion were amongst her secret plans. But she did make one thing clear: “I put all of my art into my drag.”
‘Silence is a disease’: A glimpse of Chrissy Guiriba
It was Chrissy Guiriba’s second summer volunteering at camp when inspiration struck.
There, they called her Teeny.
“You should start a camp,” her campers told her.
She thought about it. As a kid, she had a reliable relationship with the outdoors. Nature did not belong to anyone and welcomed her with open arms. That’s why she worked her way back to being a volunteer in the first place. She forgot how much she loved it, how liberating camp life was. And the campers could tell she was on their wavelength.
Credits: Faith Taylor
Growing up, Guiriba was also fortunate enough to have a supportive family. Her parents knew she was different. But years of advocacy — be it through Jacksonville’s Sexual Minority Youth Network (JASMYN), connecting youth with HIV care, drag or otherwise — made it clear to her that not every transgender youth was so lucky. But a camp could be an empowerment powerhouse.
Her campers insisted. Teeny caved.
“Yeah, I should,” she said.
It happened in a flash. In 2019, Guiriba established Transcending Adolescence and the resilience retreat program. The camp would help transgender youth develop the same self-awareness and coping skills Guiriba had absorbed over the years. Rather than a chore, it would be fun-focused.
The pandemic pulled the breaks as quickly as the camp’s concept was formed. A world-halting virus made grouping kids in bunks impossible. Guiriba was no stranger to nuisances, be it a classroom bully or a world unwilling to change. She got to work.
Once fully formed, she decided Transcending Adolescence would be built on five pillars, or SPEAR: support, physical recreation, empowerment, advocacy and reflection. The cluster grew out of reflection on her resilience as a trans adult.
Guiriba and her board trekked to their Central Florida property and trial-ran their program for eight months. At long last, Transcending Adolescence held its first camp session last June. It was a resounding success.
Guiriba is elated. But she won’t be slowing down now.
“I've always been a hustler,” she said.
Still, even with research, lecture and Strike Drag Show partnerships in the works, it all rests on her intention to further define Transcending Adolescence — on building resilience in trans youth.
But roadblocks remain. While her organization has succeeded, Southern states specifically have made the development of that resilience difficult. When she reads headlines about a medical board refusing to offer affirming care to trans minors and the like, it feels like the world is working backward.
“It’s terrifying,” she said. “The work is important now more than ever.”
And it can’t be done alone — summer camp by itself isn’t enough. Supporting grassroots organizations, like local sexual minority youth networks, is one way people can aid the cause.
Another is simply speaking up. It pains Guiriba when her Faith Taylor drag promos receive hundreds of likes, while posts about how damaging legislation affects trans youth are met with crickets.
“It's important for people not to scroll past those posts,” she said. “Just acknowledging them is the way that people can show some support.”
She knows it probably isn’t intentional or done out of spite. Regardless: “Silence is a disease,” she said.
Guiriba fears a domino effect. Once medical transitions for minors go, adult transitions could be restricted next. Other states may follow suit. Transgender identity itself is at risk of being questioned where it isn’t already. Guiriba trusts that studies have confirmed otherwise. If onlooking allies don’t become active accomplices, current progress becomes meaningless.
“If there's nobody to defend it, then what?”
Strike Out,
Writers/Editors: Daniella Conde, AJ Bafer, Kate Corcoran
Kelly Kelly, Faith Taylor and Peach’s Ros’e will be performing at the Strike Gainesville Drag Show on Sunday, December 4th at 8 p.m. at How Bazar. Tickets will be sold at the door.
