In late February, a studio space in Brooklyn, New York, served as the meeting place for the first-ever class session of Drag Performance: Between & Beyond Gender, a $600 course that teaches its students the ins and outs of drag performance. He is The program at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) was organized by instructor Kelinda Bee, a 31-year-old drag performer who goes by the drag persona Theydy Bedbug. Before teaching at BAX, the first five years of his program took place online through video conferencing services like Zoom amid the pandemic. Related RuPauls Drag Race queens have 5 tips for getting started in drag RuPaul, Bob the Drag Queen, Peppermint and Alaska Thunderf*ck have thoughts. Not only are the classes now in-person, but soon the course will have its first class to graduate during President Donald Trumps second term as president, a term marked by his constant attacks against transgender and gender-expansive people. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today In Trumps first day alone, he put out an executive order for the federal government to acknowledge that there are only two genders and for the government to only recognize a persons sex-at-birth on identifying documents and when accessing gendered spaces or programs.Bee told Rolling Stone that Trumps pushback against the LGBTQ+ community emboldened them to use their program to fight against this current culture war started by conservatives.The pushback on drag in the last few years has made it clear to me how necessary this work is. Its made me take it even more seriously and want to reach even more people, he said. Its made me dig my heels in and be more unabashed in advocating for spaces where people can experiment and express themselves and come into their fullness and authenticity. The 12-week course is designed to teach budding performers the basics of drag, with the goal of exploring and experimenting with gender in a safe and welcoming space, allowing students to feel more organic in embracing their persona and performing in a way that feels uniquely them. Students arent required to offer a drag name for several weeks and are free to change it and their drag pronouns at any time.Many have their reasons for attending the class; some were looking to build confidence and explore their identity, and others were attending as a form of rebellion against the Trump administration.One student named Patrick told Rolling Stone, Theres something really cool and even more rebellious about it now I think theres something thats, like, a big f**k-you to the current administration. Some naysayers see little purpose in having a $600 class on drag performance, as historically most performers had developed their art by being taken under the wing of a friend to act as a sort of drag-mom or dad, or by practicing at home and signing up for open performances at bars.Even clowns have an official clown college, Trixie Mattel is quoted as saying. For drag, its the school of hard knocks.A 26-year-old named Xavier Ruiz, a 2023 alum of the class who performs under the drag persona Luckiii, said, I remember telling people about this drag class, people who are actual drag performers, and them being like, What the hell is that? You dont need to take a class to do drag. People were very skeptical.Having taken it, I can definitely vouch for what a transformative and special experience it was, Ruiz said. It was nice to be part of what was essentially a drag persona incubator.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.