Contestant Dolce Vida (left) with show host Cookie Couture. Credit: KEITH JOHNSON

Contestant Dolce Vida (left) with show host Cookie Couture.

Contestant Dolce Vida (left) with show host Cookie Couture. KEITH JOHNSON

This has been the decade of drag. When RuPaul’s Drag Race premiered in 2009, Barack Obama didn’t even support gay marriage. Things have obviously changed. The success of RuPaul’s Drag Race has unexpectedly spawned a massive revival of drag in gay clubs across the country—including Seattle.

Now there are drag nights at Seattle taco stands and pizza parlors. And some venues, like R Place and Queer Bar, have upped the ante by offering queens big cash prizes in Drag Race–style live competitions. The ongoing competition on Wednesday nights at R Place, So You Think You Can Drag, is about to award $5,000 to the winner of its second “season.” It’s one of the biggest cash prizes a queen in Seattle can hope to get.

Chase Burns is The Stranger's former editor. He's covered everything from gay luchadores to chemical weapons to Isabella Rossellini's favorite pets.