April 27 2026, 08:15 
A gay bar crowd of over 1,000 people in Bushwick, Brooklyn, cheered on the night of Thursday, April 16, as the opening lines of the melancholic ballad “We Are Charlie Kirk” played through the bar’s backyard speakers, a projected image of a waving U.S. flag appearing on a large screen onstage.
Drag performer Lauren Banall slowly appeared from stage left with a regal bearing, walking with the small flame of a lit lighter in her hands before pulling out a small bottle of eye drops from her red blazer pocket. She pretended to apply tears to her cheeks and then used a handkerchief to wipe them away amid her exaggerated sobs of grief.
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Banall had previously gone viral on TikTok for her Kirk impersonation of Erika Kirk, the widow of slain MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk, who was widely criticized for her flashy public appearances soon after his death. But Banall revived that imitation last Thursday, at I Want You for Turning Point U.S. Gay NYC, a right-wing parody show held at 3 Dollar Bill, a late-night gay bar in New York City.
The event attracted over 1,000 people and raised over $25,000 for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) while gogo boys in U.S. flag outfits danced for the audience and 10 drag performers satirically portrayed high-profile MAGA figures, like Kirk, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and even MAGA attorney Rudy Guilliani.
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“Drag has always been political. We’re making it clear what’s at stake, [but] at the same time, the show wasn’t a downer,” said the event’s lead organizer, Kiki Ball-Change, who portrayed First Lady Melania Trump in the show. “Ultimately, it’s about reminding people that the things we’re joking about have real-world consequences, and that queer people, especially, don’t have the luxury of separating politics from our everyday lives.”
But even more importantly, she told LGBTQ Nation, the event represented the latest instance of queer people pushing back against right-wing movements all over the world.
