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RuPaul Comes Under Fire For Comments About Openly Trans Contestants On ‘Drag Race’
Former competitors on the show have added their voices to the fray.
RuPaul, the world-famous drag queen and host of VH1′s critically acclaimed “RuPaul’s Drag Race” franchise, is facing backlash for comments made last week about allowing openly transgender contestants to compete on his hit reality program.
The initial comments appeared in a profile of RuPaul in The Guardian. “Drag loses its sense of danger and its sense of irony once it’s not men doing it, because at its core it’s a social statement and a big f-you to male-dominated culture,” RuPaul said in the interview. “So for men to do it, it’s really punk rock, because it’s a real rejection of masculinity.”
The interviewer then asked about Season 9 contestant Peppermint, the first openly transgender woman to compete on “Drag Race.”
“Mmmm. It’s an interesting area,” RuPaul responded. “Peppermint didn’t get breast implants until after she left our show; she was identifying as a woman, but she hadn’t really transitioned.”
The interviewer then followed up, asking Ru if he would accept a contestant who had “really transitioned” onto the show. The “Drag Race” host responded by saying, “Probably not. You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body. It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing. We’ve had some girls who’ve had some injections in the face and maybe a little bit in the butt here and there, but they haven’t transitioned.”
Over the weekend, Ru began facing backlash for these initial comments. But the reality star then doubled down on his statements, re-sharing The Guardian interview Monday morning on his Twitter and posting a series of controversial tweets.
RuPaul almost immediately faced backlash from fans and former contestants alike. Many accused him of being a gatekeeper of sorts for the idea of “what drag is,” and lobbed accusations that the star was excluding women ― cis and trans alike ― from the prospect of competing on “Drag Race.”
Former competitors on the show have added their voices to the fray.
RuPaul, the world-famous drag queen and host of VH1′s critically acclaimed “RuPaul’s Drag Race” franchise, is facing backlash for comments made last week about allowing openly transgender contestants to compete on his hit reality program.
The initial comments appeared in a profile of RuPaul in The Guardian. “Drag loses its sense of danger and its sense of irony once it’s not men doing it, because at its core it’s a social statement and a big f-you to male-dominated culture,” RuPaul said in the interview. “So for men to do it, it’s really punk rock, because it’s a real rejection of masculinity.”
The interviewer then asked about Season 9 contestant Peppermint, the first openly transgender woman to compete on “Drag Race.”
“Mmmm. It’s an interesting area,” RuPaul responded. “Peppermint didn’t get breast implants until after she left our show; she was identifying as a woman, but she hadn’t really transitioned.”
The interviewer then followed up, asking Ru if he would accept a contestant who had “really transitioned” onto the show. The “Drag Race” host responded by saying, “Probably not. You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body. It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing. We’ve had some girls who’ve had some injections in the face and maybe a little bit in the butt here and there, but they haven’t transitioned.”
Over the weekend, Ru began facing backlash for these initial comments. But the reality star then doubled down on his statements, re-sharing The Guardian interview Monday morning on his Twitter and posting a series of controversial tweets.
RuPaul almost immediately faced backlash from fans and former contestants alike. Many accused him of being a gatekeeper of sorts for the idea of “what drag is,” and lobbed accusations that the star was excluding women ― cis and trans alike ― from the prospect of competing on “Drag Race.”