These are difficult times to live in. Of course, times have almost always been difficult for non-white, non-cis men. But now more than ever, in the U.S. especially, people are launching targeted attacks against trans people for merely wanting to exist.
As part of these attacks, drag queens have become common targets in the culture war. Note: drag queens and transgender people are not the same, but to the ignorant, what’s the difference? Radicals lump these classes of people into one group because they all confront the idea of gender as a social construct and a performance.
In these trying times, reality TV can be an excellent escape. However, more than that, reality TV can often be a tool to educate and proclaim some much-needed truths. On Monday night, as RuPaul’s Drag Race scored an Emmy, the queen himself, RuPaul, decided to speak some truth.
RuPaul urges we “listen” to drag queens in Emmys speech
On January 15, after RuPaul’s Drag Race won the Emmy for Reality Competition Program, the show’s leading man gave a short acceptance speech. “Thank you so much, you lovely, lovely people,” he began. “We are so honored to have this award.”
He continued, “Listen, you guys are just pure lovely for honoring our show and recognizing all of these queens. We have released into the wild hundreds of drag queens and they’re beautiful. On behalf of all of them, we thank you.”
Ru concluded his speech by saying, “If a drag queen wants to read you a story at a library, listen to her because knowledge is power, and if someone tries to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you. So listen to a drag queen! We love you! Thank you!”
Now, make no mistake, RuPaul and the show come with controversies of their own. But that shouldn’t take away from the truth in RuPaul’s message. Far too many people want to convince the public that drag queens and trans people are dangerous to children when that is simply untrue.
RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 continues Fridays at 8/7c on MTV.
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