BY SANDERS KENNEDY
As early results of the 2024 presidential election rolled in on Tuesday, Nov. 5, a calm but anxious crowd gathered once again at Good Judy’s, a popular queer bar in Brooklyn, NY. The gay gasps and “yasss queen” calls that marked the ebullient watch party for the Harris-Trump presidential debate two months earlier now turned into an atmosphere of whispered anticipation, nervous energy and reassurance, where patrons held their breath, clinging to each other and the hope of a brighter future.
This time around, the crowd knew it would be a long, dragged-out night filled with waves of emotion and uncertainty. The bar brought in reinforcements to help relax the tension in the room by having two drag queens host the watch party.
“Scream if you voted,” said Roque, a local drag queen who was one of the hosts for the night. “Scream if you’re gonna leave the country if Trump wins.”
Drag queens are not known for being politically correct. They tend to bring humor to tough situations, while still acknowledging the seriousness of what is happening. Roque, who frequently hosts drag shows at Good Judy’s, lip synced to the National Anthem performed by the singer, Fergie, at the NBA All-Star game in 2018. Fergie’s performance became a memorable moment due to her unique rendition of the song.
“Is this bitch for real?” said Roque, who described her reaction when she first saw Fergie’s performance. “I knew I had to perform this song tonight because what we are seeing right now has me question if America is for real right now.”
Roque’s drag performance was held in the back of the bar away from the televisions that were broadcasting MSNBC’s coverage of the results. Nearly half of the crowd moved to the back to give themselves a break from increasingly grim updates.
There were times when the pace of local election results slowed down. MSNBC had a countdown clock on the bottom right corner of the screen to let the viewers know when each state’s polling station would officially close. People at the bar started to verbally count down the number of seconds as if they were watching the Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop.
The televised election returns and the music playing at the bar would change volume levels throughout the evening, but closed captioning was on the screen for people who might have a hearing disability. At one point, Zi, 24, who uses they/them pronouns, jumped out of their seat at the bar, pointing at the TV, and started to scream over the music, catching many people’s attention.
“Did any of you just see that?” asked Zi. “F-ing bombs? What the —–?”
MSNBC reported that there were faked bomb threats being made at polling stations in each swing state, allegedly coming from Russia.
“If Trump wins then this is rigged,” said Zi. “We are talking about fake bomb threats from Russia. This can’t be f-ing happening.”
Accusations of a rigged 2020 presidential election, proven not to be true, were started by Donald Trump, after he lost to President Joe Biden.
As polling stations across America officially closed and results continued to roll in, emotions ran high at the bar. People started to tear up, leaning on each other’s shoulders, holding hands, and gently rubbing each other’s backs in comfort.
John, 53, was among the patrons. He had attended the debate watch party at Good Judy’s in September and warned then that the country should “be ready for hell” if younger voters believed that not voting for Harris was a good idea, due to their views on how the Biden-Harris Administration was handling the fight between Israel and Gaza.
“Remember when I said get ready for hell? Well, it’s time to get ready,” said John. “We’ll have to fight against the chaos Trump is about to bring us, whether he likes it or not.”
While there was not yet an official announcement declaring Trump the victor, people at the watch party appeared to believe that it was soon to happen, as some began to cry while leaving the bar. Other individuals left hopeful for the future of the country and began to focus on the 2026 midterm elections.
“It will be ok,” said Roy, 39. “Guess what? We get to vote again in two years for the midterms.”
Before the night was over, the Republican Party would have the majority of seats in the Senate. Republicans flipped Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia, giving them at least a 52-seat majority.
“This is temporary, we have to hold on,” said Roy, referring to the fear people expressed throughout the night of Trumps election win. “There’s no other choice.”