About a thousand people enjoy Gay Bingo Night in Charlotte, and the first rule of gay bingo is that everyone is invited, gay or straight. If you head to the event that's been called Queen City's best kept secret, you might find the unexpected: drag queens, stiff upper lips and soccer moms all hanging out together in the name of bingo. "It's a surprisingly large fun community here in Charlotte which I hadn't really met yet," said Branch.

The game is played at a much faster pace than traditional bingo, with drag queens like Shelita Ham leading the game. Ms. Ham calls out players for a premature bingo, or a, "Bingo!" called before all five numbers are announced.

"So Ron, can you tell me why you would call a premature bingo, we only called out four balls and you need five to - no excuse just like I thought!", said Ham, whose player badgering and antics are well received by the large crowd.

But gay bingo night is fun with a serious cause to address. All the money raised at the event goes towards the fight against AIDS. Tickets, raffles and prizes have brought in more than $500,000 over the last seven years.