“There was a moment in time before Drag Race became big that drag was becoming popular enough to have a great career,” says Peppermint. Colby and Pill add to a recent procession of trans winners including All Stars’ Kylie Sonique Love and Jinx Monsoon. She took the crown from season 14 winner, Willow Pill, who announced they were trans during their season. It was a “specific choice to be naked in these times,” she said after the season finale referring to her showstopping almost nude finale appearance. An ardent social rights activist and Attitude Award winner, she often uses her platform - which grew considerably following her Drag Race appearance - to speak out about issues that are close to her heart.Ĭut to 2023 when Sasha Colby, a trans woman, won the crown at the end of Drag Race’s fifteenth season. She came second overall, and since then has toured extensively, also working in TV, film, and theatre - notably as Euphoria in season 2 of Pose. One of Drag Race’s most popular winners, Bianca Del Rio, sold out Wembley Arena! In 2017, Peppermint made history as the show’s first openly trans contestant. The Vivienne and Kitty Scott Klaus are on primetime TV. Just look at Jinkx Monsoon currently storming Chicago every night on Broadway. Bimini, Divina de Campo, Shangela, Tia Kofi, to name just a few, are now known not just in drag circles, but far beyond. (Image: Kelvin lee Gray)ĭrag Race made household names of queens who once earned a living on stage in local bars. Divina de Campo has reached mainstream attention. By 2018, the show had launched in Thailand, before reaching the UK via the BBC a year later, with spin-offs now in Canada, Spain, Australia, Italy, Holland, and more to come. The impact of Drag Race extends beyond LGBTQ+ fans: anybody attending DragCon can see how the programme’s ravenous fanbase is largely young, cis women. He’d grafted for years in the clubs of New York and as a presenter on the Manhattan Cable network, before finding mainstream fame duetting with Elton John in 1993, and becoming a featured artist on records with Diana Ross, Lil’ Kim and Miley Cyrus, among many others. “We need all genres, including kings - and how about some representation for the older queens aged 45-plus?” – Alexa Vox “Yes!” Ru replied affirmatively when he posed the rhetorical question to contestant Luxx Noir London on whether a young Ru in the mid-80s would have ever envisioned that he’d one day host the biggest, queerest franchise in the world. At a time when drag is making mainstream news headlines, just how inclusive is the TV jewel in the drag world’s crown? Ongina, Peppermint, and Divina de Campo (Image: Attitude)įor RuPaul, the ascent of Drag Race from niche network when it first aired in 2009 to Emmy Award-winning gamechanger showing on VH1 and now MTV was a foregone conclusion. Meanwhile, away from the glitz of the TV show, drag has never been more debated, where an increasing number of US states are seeking to introduce or have introduced anti-drag bills. With a media empire that now spans the globe, Drag Race is arguably as polarising as it’s ever been. Bottom left to right: Ebony Rose Dark and Chiyo (Image: Attitude)Īll of these statements could apply to RuPaul’s Drag Race in one way or another. When I think about the impact Drag Race has had on the broader LGBTQ+ scene - which I’ve worked in or around for 20 years - as well as mainstream entertainment and culture, I’m filled with mixed emotions, and many LGBTQ+ people I speak to feel the same. From top left to right: Alexa Vox, Melanin Monroe, and Chanel N★. The hegemony of drag has reached saturation point, relentlessly churning out seasons across the world and making the dreams of some artists come true, while others are left in mountains of debt. The perfect avenue for LGBTQ+ artists to turbo-boost their career and reach a whole new audience, which can be utilised for social activism.
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