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Gia Gunn, Sasha Velour, Willam & More Drag RuPaul for Transphobic Comments
"How you gonna openly discriminate in your own community?"
RuPaul shocked the drag community this weekend when he told The Guardian that he wouldn't allow transgender women who've begun gender-affirming transition surgeries to compete on RuPaul's Drag Race—and implied that previous trans competitors (specifically Peppermint) were still men dressing up as women because they hadn't yet physically transitioned.
Drag Race has featured a handful of transgender and nonbinary queens, including Peppermint, Gia Gunn, Jinkx Monsoon, Jiggly Caliente, Carmen Carrera, Monica Beverly Hillz, Sonique, and Kenya Michaels. RuPaul's comments aren't only transphobic, they're incredibly disrespectful and invalidating to the very queens who helped build his empire.
After doubling down on his comments this morning, likening transitional surgeries to "performance enhancing drugs," several Drag Race queens have spoken out on the matter, pointing out the importance of trans drag performers in Herstory—and Ru's hypocrisy.
\u201c\ud83d\ude15\ud83d\ude26\ud83d\ude14\ud83e\udd10!\u201d— Miss Peppermint. BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER (@Miss Peppermint. BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER) 1520176822
\u201cTrans women were the first entertainers I ever saw in drag & have always been a big part of the industry. To now hear such words of segregation from an icon who has created a world wide community of unity, makes me sad. Is never been LGB so let\u2019s not forget about the T!\u201d— Gia Gunn (@Gia Gunn) 1520277223
\u201cAlthough I do feel the separation from being a drag queen and now a trans woman, there should not be any reason to be \u201cnot accepted\u201d when it comes to the art of drag. If you are a fierce artist, your a fierce artist & should be judged based on your art. NOT your gender identity!\u201d— Gia Gunn (@Gia Gunn) 1520279422
\u201cMy drag was born in a community full of trans women, trans men, and gender non-conforming folks doing drag. That\u2019s the real world of drag, like it or not. I thinks it\u2019s fabulous and I will fight my entire life to protect and uplift it.\u201d— Sasha Velour (@Sasha Velour) 1520283330
\u201cMy partner of almost three years is trans, and #bendelachrist help anyone who tries to tell him what he can and can\u2019t do. Just sayin\u2019.\u201d— BenDeLaCreme (@BenDeLaCreme) 1520290099
\u201cThe release of #Blend by @Cazwellnyc and I is meant to bring awareness to the harsh reality of Trans women while uplifting others into knowing they are beautiful & worthy of respect. Your light is too bright to be dimmed! Never forget that.\u2764\ufe0f #transpride #transisbeautiful\u201d— Miss Peppermint. BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER (@Miss Peppermint. BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER) 1520265824
\u201cThe revolution is intersectional and so is drag\u201d— Courtney Act (@Courtney Act) 1520213239
Alexandra Billings, the first openly transgender women to play a transgender character on television, also had some words for RuPaul.
Season 5 contestant Monica Beverly Hillz, who was the first to come out as a trans woman on the show, shared her thoughts with INTO.
"Our bodies do not equate our identity," she explained. "I've always been a woman, so what I've done to my body or that I hadn't started hormones while on the show doesn't take away my identity."
"Everybody should be given the opportunity to compete."
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
