RuPaul apologizes for her comments on transitioning drag queens, calls the trans community “heroes”
The RuPaul's Drag Race host received widespread criticism for saying that transitioning queens would "probably not" be allowed to compete
“The only thing we’ve ever screened for is charisma uniqueness nerve and talent. And that will never change.”
—RuPaul, host of RuPaul’s Drag Race, on Twitter yesterday apologizing for his comments in The Guardian saying that he would not allow transitioning transgender queens to compete on the show.
RuPaul addressed the controversy he caused in two tweets calling the trans community heroes.
“Each morning I pray to set aside everything I THINK I know, so I may have an open mind and a new experience,” he said. “I understand and regret the hurt I have caused. The trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement. You are my teachers.”
Each morning I pray to set aside everything I THINK I know, so I may have an open mind and a new experience. I understand and regret the hurt I have caused. The trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement. You are my teachers. pic.twitter.com/80Qi2halN2
— RuPaul (@RuPaul) March 5, 2018
He added: “In the 10 years we’ve been casting Drag Race, the only thing we’ve ever screened for is charisma uniqueness nerve and talent. And that will never change.”
In the 10 years we’ve been casting Drag Race, the only thing we’ve ever screened for is charisma uniqueness nerve and talent. And that will never change. pic.twitter.com/0jsyt6MRvO
— RuPaul (@RuPaul) March 5, 2018
In the interview with The Guardian, released Saturday, RuPaul said that someone who had transitioned would “probably not” be allowed to compete.
“You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body,” RuPaul said. “It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing.”
The comments received widespread backlash, including from many Drag Race alumni.
Monica Beverly Hillz, who opened up about her trans status during the filming of the show, said to INTO that “our bodies do not equate our identity…. 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.”
Sasha Velour, winner of season nine, highlighted the number of trans performers in the drag community, calling trans inclusion “the real world of drag, like it or not.”
My drag was born in a community full of trans women, trans men, and gender non-conforming folks doing drag. That’s the real world of drag, like it or not. I thinks it’s fabulous and I will fight my entire life to protect and uplift it.
— Sasha Velour (@sasha_velour) March 5, 2018
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