By Kevin Ferrisi –
It is that time of year again, when our attention turns toward politics and voting deadlines are quickly approaching. Voting advocates look to find creative ways to engage voters and get excited about the upcoming elections. Drag Out The Vote™ is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works with drag performers to promote participation in democracy.
Led by fierce drag artists across the country, their goal is to educate and register voters at local and national drag events. They also advocate for increased voter access and engagement. Here in Connecticut, local drag queen and entertainer, Zella Cullatore, became the official ambassador for our state, representing the nonprofit, beginning in April of this year.
While attending a liberal arts college, Zella took interest in social justice. One random afternoon, in early 2023, while scrolling through her feed, she saw two drag performers that she followed who were putting out a call for drag ambassadors to advocate for the Drag Out The Vote organization.
Zella realized she could combine her passion for social justice with the art of drag so she decided to apply for the position, and today stands as the official ambassador for Drag Out The Vote for the state of Connecticut. In this pivotal role, Zella is responsible for speaking about the importance of voting, as well as helping people either get registered to vote or to check their voting registration status, and she does this by utilizing social media and public events.
Recently featured on the local news segment, The Real Story, on Fox61, Zella represents and advocates for Drag Out The Vote. Today’s political climate doesn’t particularly favor the drag culture and currently, as of June of this year, there are over 540 anti-LGBTQ laws being proposed into legislation nationwide. Drag representation on mainstream news is helping to change the narrative because drag queens have unfortunately had a negative stigma placed around their community, so having representation on a large-scale platform will start to change the perception surrounding the art of drag.
Although Connecticut is a liberal state and a lot of protections are in place for minority groups, Zella reminds us, “Anything can happen in politics. I bring up Roe versus Wade getting overturned in 2022.” Zella goes on to tell us about her drag friends in Massachusetts being protested outside of their drag story hour events. “Things can change so quickly,” Zella reminds us. She believes your vote is your voice and stresses the importance of participating in your local elections because it is your chance to choose who directly represents you.
Majoring in theater at Skidmore College in 2017 and participating in a play where she was cast as a drag queen, at the time, Zella had not had any experience with drag before. She however decided to dive in headfirst and found the experience to be quite liberating. She then took interest in the hit show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and discovered that the drag culture was something that spoke to her. Soon thereafter, the Covid pandemic swept the globe and suddenly the world found itself with lots of free time during lockdown.
Zella took the opportunity to explore and strengthen her drag skills with the help of a Connecticut theater acquaintance, now friend, Amethyst, we know from the most recent season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. After the pandemic, Zella’s first performance took place at Chez Legends, a local drag competition at the Chez Est in Hartford, and she has been performing since.
Zella, alongside local drag artist Kalysta Kaykes, has organized an event to benefit Drag Out The Vote, taking place on September 17, 2023 at 8:00pm at the Chez Est, on Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford, CT. There will be performances by local drag artists Bonnie Petite and Felicity V. Lay, as well as Zella and Kalysta. All tips made during the show will be donated directly to the organization. If you are interested in attending, visit the Chez Est here for hours and directions.
Check out Zella’s interview on the local news segment, The Real Story, on Fox61, below.
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