Drag queens enjoyed turkey and pumpkin pie alongside community members Wednesday night at the annual Family Thanksgiving and Drag Bingo in the Gladish Community and Culture Center.

For the past ten years, the Gender Identity/Expression and Sexual Orientation Resource Center (GIESORC), University of Idaho’s LGBTQA, Inland Oasis and TabiKat Productions have joined forces to organize the event for the Pullman and Moscow area, said Heidi Stanton, director of GIESORC.

“We are glad that the event can strengthen the bond between Washington and Idaho, as well as support the community,” Stanton said.

The event brought together a number of students, community members and leaders for good food and a good time, organizers said.

Stanton said the Gladish Center has always offered the perfect place to hold an event like Family Thanksgiving.

“It embodies what a community is and should be,” She said.

Stanton started the Family Thanksgiving as “a place to feel safe and welcome.” She said many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) youth do not always have a place to celebrate the holidays.

Since its beginning, the event has become a tradition in the Palouse community, attracting people from the Pullman and Moscow communities.

With more than 60 in attendance, the Family Thanksgiving and Drag Bingo organizers considered the event another success.

TabiKat Productions, Moscow’s go-to drag show organizers, and Inland Oasis, one of two community groups in Idaho that provides HIV testing and case management, hosted Drag Bingo.

Christopher Bidiman, executive director of Inland Oasis, said Drag Bingo has been a part of the festivities since 2007.

“We wanted an aspect that would change it up,” he said.

Bidiman moonlights as Claudia Stubblemeyer and co-hosts the game with fellow TabiKat performer Aquasha DeLusty.

Drag Bingo prizes included cash, mystery grab bags, gift cards and various other items, courtesy of Eclectica.

All proceeds of the game went to a fundraiser for the annual Palouse Pride event, which takes place every second weekend of August.

Junior Zelrick Edwards said the environment at Family Thanksgiving was friendly and he felt welcome.

“Everyone here is a lot like my family,” Edwards said.

This year was his second time at the event, the first being his freshman year.

“This creates a community, and it shows that we all are family here,” he said.