Drag Race star RuPaul has apologized for comments made in an interview with The Guardian last weekend, in which he said he would “probably not” accept a person who has transitioned gender competing on the show.
“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,” RuPaul tweeted, two days after the interview was published.
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In a second tweet, 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.”
When asked if he would let “bio-queens”(biological women who mimic femininity through exaggerated drag characters) on his show, he responded, “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. So for men to do it, it’s really punk rock, because it’s a real rejection of masculinity.”
The 57-year-old LGBTQ icon was condemned after he was asked if he would accept a contestant who had completed her transition.
“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,” he told The Guardian.
The star faced further backlash for controversial tweets he made after the interview that reinstated his earlier comments, one of which read: “You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics.”
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RuPaul’s Drag Race has featured several transgender contestants in the past. All competed before fully transitioning, announcing their identity as transwomen after their respective seasons aired.
Season 9’s Peppermint and Season 5’s Monica Beverly Hillz are the only people who’ve competed on Drag Race as openly transgender women and they both came out during their time on the show.
“Mmmm. It’s an interesting area. Peppermint didn’t get breast implants until after she left our show; she was identifying as a woman, but she hadn’t really transitioned,” RuPaul said during the interview.
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Several of the show’s past contestants commented on the controversy, with the show’s current reigning champion, Season 9 winner Sasha Velour tweeting, “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.”
Season 2 contestant Tatianna tweeted “drag is for everyone.”
All Stars contestant BenDeLaCreme spoke about having a partner who is trans.
Season 6 contestant Gia Gunn came out as transgender after competing on the show and joined the conversation on Twitter.
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Many others took to Twitter to say they were disappointed in RuPaul’s comments.