Stony Brook University's Student Activities Center Plaza came alive as students, staff and community members gathered for the fifth annual Pride Fest Block Party, a vibrant outdoor celebration of LGBTQ+ pride.

Co-sponsored by Student Engagement and Activities, the LGBT+ Alliance and LGBTQ+ Services, this year's Pride Fest featured giveaways, games, food and live drag performances by four of Long Island and New York's standout drag artists: Paige Monroe, Sophya Medina, Zelina Duval and Melody Christina Monroe.

Welcoming attendees to the April 22 block party, Maxine Moylan, assistant director of the Department of Diversity, Intercultural and Community Engagement (DICE), grounded the event in its campus mission:

"This entire week, we like to celebrate and affirm our LGBTQ communities here at Stony Brook," she said.

The afternoon's first featured performer, the current Miss Fire Island, Sophya Medina, was introduced as a drag artist known for her elegance and her strong connection to the community, whose reign was marked by uplifting others and promoting inclusivity in everything that she does.

Medina, a proud Puerto Rican and Dominican Latina queen, invited students to stay connected beyond the event and stop by for photos. Her remarks underscored the event's dual focus on joyful celebration and sustained visibility.

Later, Miss Fire Island 2022 Selena Duval captured the spirit of the day by emphasizing that Pride is not confined to a single month:

"For me, Pride is 365 days of the year, baby. We celebrate it every single year, every single day of the week, every time that we go out."

Building on the message of year-round pride, the afternoon became a showcase of drag as an art form rooted in storytelling and advocacy.

Duval blended high-energy performance with affirmations of cultural pride and queer visibility. Her set highlighted not only technical skill but also the importance of representation for LGBTQ+ communities of color.

Melody Christina Monroe, an emerging drag artist, brought a different kind of power to the stage. Monroe draws on her background in social work to center mental health, connection and care in her drag. Her appearance at Pride Fest underscored how drag can be entertaining and deeply intentional, using humor and style to remind students that support and community are always within reach.

Alongside Medina, Duval and Monroe, longtime performer Paige Monroe offered a bridge between generations of drag. A former Miss Paradise and a veteran of nearly three decades in pageantry, Monroe brought a polished performance and quick wit to her set. Between numbers, she spoke candidly about her journey, including her returning to college at age 52, and encouraged students to view their own paths as evolving and nonlinear.

"Just because you think your life isn't going the way that you want it to go doesn't mean you're not going in the right direction," she said. "It's about the journey."

Her message resonated with the event's broader theme of growth, resilience and self-discovery, particularly for LGBTQ+ students navigating their identities during their college years.

All four performers highlighted their work with the Imperial Court of New York, a longstanding charitable organization that uses drag to raise funds for nonprofits across the tri-state area. From supporting local LGBTQ+ youth programs to partnering with organizations such as PFLAG and Thursday's Child, the performers highlighted that drag can be a vehicle for service and advocacy.

Later in the afternoon, performers invited students to compete in lip-sync battles "for their lives," offering Pride Fest T-shirts as prizes. Volunteers from across campus, including some attending their very first Pride Fest, stepped up to the mic to dance and lip-sync alongside the queens.

These interactive segments were full of crowd call-and-response and playful lessons on how to "fake" song lyrics while lip-syncing. Students who might have arrived as spectators quickly became part of the show, reflecting the event's emphasis on inclusion and participation.

Music for the block party was provided by DJ A Minor, a Stony Brook alum who returned to campus to soundtrack the afternoon. The setlist ranged from pop anthems to queer classics as attendees flowed in and out of the plaza, grabbed food, picked up flags and posed for photos with friends and performers.

As the event drew to a close, the queens invited the crowd to join them on the ground level for one final number, turning the last song into a communal dance.

The SAC Plaza was filled with colorful flags and new connections. For many students, Pride Fest was an introduction to drag as an art form and to Fire Island's historic drag pageant, which recently celebrated a milestone anniversary and earned recognition as the world's longest-running LGBTQ+ drag pageant. For others, it was a chance to reconnect with familiar campus partners and traditions.

Above all, the fifth annual Pride Fest Block Party reaffirmed Stony Brook's commitment to fostering a campus where LGBTQ+ students, faculty and staff can be seen, celebrated and supported every day of the year.

- Lily Miller