On Wednesday nights at Studio 13, 13 S. Linn St., newcomers to drag bound across the stage in hopes of becoming the next Miss Gay Iowa City, Saturday night performer, or in this case, the next Haus of Eden.

The Haus of Eden, a group of drag queens of color, débuted at Pride in 2016 and accelerated rapidly afterward. Haus has performed for audiences ranging from children to politicians, and the group even opened for rapper Cupcakke.

As its star continues to rise, the next step lies in the South. Haus plans to move to San Antonio and perform for a bigger audience and more inclusive demographic, said group leader the Queen FantAsia Woods.

Queen FantAsia Woods, otherwise known as King Robinson, started the group in 2016 initially as a joke. However, the need for a cohesive group in the small community of color in the world of drag became apparent, solidifying the group.

“I had started to know a lot of drag queens at that point, so it was cool to kind of have a sisterhood, a sorority-type thing, and perform together,” King said. “People who could actually dance, who actually had a voice that they wanted to be heard about something more than just drag.”

The “something more” became a message of inclusiveness, love, and representation for performers of color in and out of the drag world.

At Pride 2016, the public first encountered the Haus of Eden in its entirety, with members Sa’More Divine, Whorechata, Ophelia Belle, and Hollywood Hope. Beginning with a poem created by the queens, “Who Am I?,” the performance proceeded to startle and inspire the crowd.

“It was shocking for the audience, and that let me know that this is something we should do,” King said. “We fit into a part of Studio that hadn’t been there before. We had a vision, we stuck to the vision, and we didn’t have a lot of drama (even though drama found us all the time), but we made sure that it wasn’t what we were known for, because everything always goes back to your race.”

After receiving praise from the audiences of Studio 13 as well as competitions elsewhere, Haus decided it was time to move on to bigger opportunities. In San Antonio, there is a wider demographic, largely consisting of people of color, in which the Haus’ message will come across clearly and to more effect.

For Hollywood Hope, the message needs to transcend all distance.

“We as people have come such a long way when it comes to acceptance and equality, but there’s so much more work that needs to be done,” Hope said. “We have to start seeing people as people, We can’t fight hate with hate, and we have to learn to love ourselves.”

Sa’More Divine, the first recruited member of Haus, believes whole-heartedly in the creed set forth by Queen FantAsia Woods including the move to San Antonio. In self-representation, Sa’More aligns with the group vision of dancing queens with a side of theatricality in poetics.

“Comedy and glam is what is expected here. If you’re not doing that, then you’re knocked down a level,” Sa’More said. “If you’re not a comedy queen, you have to perform twice as hard. Sa’More is glam, comedy, and a performer; you can’t knock her down.”

The drag scene may be more inclusive in San Antonio, but it is a much bigger pond. By spreading the group members’ message of inclusiveness and love, they plan to have an effect through their art form on a larger scale, no matter the obstacles.

“We’ll do what we do here,” Sa’More said. “Show the people that no matter what color you are or what your sexuality is, if you work hard and show everyone your art, you will succeed.”

Success comes in many forms for Haus, including fans and competition winnings, but the members remain humble through it all.

“Going into this move, I told myself that all of the accolades, all of the love you got in Iowa is in Iowa; here, you’re starting from scratch,” King said. “I knew I couldn’t come to a big city with big queens and try to be the big fish.”

Hollywood Hope said the move made sense in regard to the size of Iowa City.

“As awesome as Iowa is, sometimes, it can be a little small for people with big dreams,” Hope said.

Haus hopefully plans to reunite in the future in San Antonio when group members Sa’More, Ophelia Belle, and Hollywood Hope make the move to Texas. Sa’More said big things are planned for the group, perhaps including a television appearance.

Fans can stay up to date on all things Haus of Eden online at its Facebook page, as well as an upcoming website. In reality, Iowa City says goodbye to Haus, for now.