UPDATE: A few hours after this story was posted, RuPaul released a video on social media condemning the “bullies” and urging people to vote. The official Drag Race account also shared a link to the ACLU Drag Defense fund.
These are scary times for queer and trans folks.
Last week, Tennessee passed a bill restricting drag—or as the bill itself calls it “adult cabaret performance”—in the presence of minors, a terrifying escalation in the recent wave of anti-trans and anti-queer legislation across the U.S. The new law will impose fines and even jail time on performers and organizers who break it. And Tennessee isn’t alone—nearly a dozen GOP-led state legislatures across the country are pushing for similar restrictions on drag as right-wing sentiments against LGBTQ2S+ folks continue to escalate.
Amidst the ongoing torrent of news, however, like many gays, I did my duty and tuned in to my weekly appointment viewing of RuPaul’s Drag Race on Friday night. And there certainly is a dissonance in reading about entire states criminalizing drag, then watching the dolls do improv with Charo and Frankie Grande on TV.
But who is drawing a connection between these two developments? Not RuPaul or the show itself, which continues to chug along with newly extended 90-minute episodes and more than a dozen international spin-offs. .
I’m not alone in that disappointment. Over the weekend, a slew of fans of the show spoke out about the bans, and specifically called on RuPaul and the show to say at least something about what’s going on.
Current and past Drag Race queens have also called out the legislation, and called on others to do the same.
In an interview with Vogue this week, Season 15 queen Aura Mayari, who’s based in Nashville, said she held a photo shoot in a local park for one of her looks this week. After April 1, it could be prosecuted under the ban. She called on everyone to take action and speak out.
“How can we educate people about the value of this art form, particularly those who are so committed to their conservative beliefs?” Mayari asks. “That’s something we can only figure out together.”
Season 6 standout BenDeLaCreme went on NBC to talk about the law at length and the overall history of drag as activism.
And yet through all of this, the queen of all drag queens himself, RuPaul, has remained silent, last tweeting back in mid-February to promote his new hosting stint on Lingo.
To be clear, I don’t need RuPaul to say something, and I don’t think RuPaul condemning Tennessee lawmakers is going to make them suddenly change their minds and say, “Yeah, actually, drag is good! Thank you, Mother!”
But RuPaul is without a doubt the most famous drag queen in the world. He pioneered mainstream acceptance of the art form, and is responsible for the platforming of drag into everyday households. My mom watches Drag Race. My straight hetero bro trainer watches Drag Race. And along with the show, millions of audiences have been exposed to queer culture and have had it normalized (though many queer folks would argue some of it’s been too normalized for the straights, but I digress). Because of Drag Race, whole new audiences know about tucking and kikis and Divine. But they also know a lot more about HIV, the experiences of trans women and the profound impact rejection can have on queer kids. RuPaul and mainstream culture’s perception of what drag is—and to a certain extent what queer and trans people—are synonymous at this point.
As many other fans on social media have rightfully pointed out, game show hosts won’t save us. RuPaul hasn’t been exactly a bastion of political progressiveness in recent years, from his show’s tepid embrace of progressive politics (including cringe appearances from Nancy Pelosi and co.) to the well-documented fracking that happens on RuPaul’s massive ranch in Nebraska.
But whether we agree with everything he does or says, having RuPaul come out and say something when the community he champions is under such attack would be, well, nice. Sometimes it’s okay to want our idols to stand up for us, for the pioneers who came before to help those struggling on the ground today, and for a show of support from someone who’s become massively wealthy off of mainstreaming drag for audiences around the world.
To have a figure like that stop and point out that the drag on TV couldn’t exist without the drag in Tennessee bars and libraries … that would matter to folks fighting against this legislation every day, and serve as a wake-up call to those folks who don’t realize that what’s banned in Tennessee and what RuPaul does on TV every week are the same thing.
But more so than a simple statement, there are tangible ways RuPaul and the show can actually leverage the massive audience they’ve cultivated to do actual good. Obviously, the show itself was taped last year so there’s little room for timely monologuing or cause-stirring within its screen time. But a bumper tag to end an episode calling out the attacks and throwing to fundraisers supporting drag in places like Tennessee? Millions of people watch Drag Race—that will make a tangible difference in real peoples’ lives. Frankly, that sort of thing should’ve been happening since the first anti-trans bills a decade ago. But late is better than never!
For a long time, we’ve pointed to simple representation in mainstream media as a political win for queer and trans folks. The fact that something like Drag Race is as popular as it is, is supposed to be a huge victory for queer and trans people.
But here we are, with dangerous escalating attacks against drag performers, queer folks and especially trans folks, there’s a responsibility to do something. There’s a responsibility to use that platform to help our community, to speak out and stand up.
Drag Race wouldn’t exist if people like RuPaul didn’t fight way back when—it’s time to pay it forward and fight today.
Why you can trust Xtra
