You better start your engines, RuPaul is here to read Donald Trump the riot act and he isn't holding back.
RuPaul is (in)famous for his TV show RuPaul's Drag Race, which is now in its ninth season.
Having previously been streamed on Netflix, the show has moved to VH1.
While you may see the competition series as a bit of fun and games, RuPaul also sees the truly revolutionary power of Drag.
Whilst Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump managed to stymie Donald's signing of the 'Religious Freedom' executive order (which would have allowed individuals and organisations to use religious objections to same-sex marriage, gender identity, and abortion) he has still rolled back important LGBT legislation put in by Obama, such as Title IX (which acts as Federal protection for Transgender student's bathroom rights).
An important aspect of RuPaul's Drag Race is just plain visibility. Never has the world been so consistently shown a group of 'a-typical' people.
Visibility and representation are of crucial importance when it comes to social change, because people who may never come into contact with a Drag Queen get a revolutionary new view.
It is easy to hate or fear something you have no knowledge of, and a lot more difficult once you see that's someone's human, just like you, except way more fabulous.
RuPaul spoke to Vice about the politics of the show, and how Drag is the perfect antedote to the Trump administration.
Trump relies on people accepting him at face value, and believing what he says. In fact, he says, 'believe me' a LOT.
RuPaul explained how Drag forces you to look closer, to not take the facade of something too seriously and to understand the a book's cover is just make-believe, that we can all be whoever we want to be. He said:
Drag says you can be fooled by the façade, so look deeper. Follow the money, follow the motivation, understand what a person's intention is. That is the key. And drag is about the real, it's about the heart. Because it acknowledges the superficial, that automatically makes it really real.
Drag in general and the show in particular really play with the idea of identity and gender and how much is just a construct.
It also makes you understand how the idea of 'self' is fluid and evolving, and this creates a sense of equality and a lack of ego. No, RuPaul has no time for the egocentric, least of all Trump.
And you see it from the top up, where the President—oh god, I think that's the first time I said the word 'President' in relation to him—he doesn't show his taxes, he doesn't follow the rules. He is the figurehead of our egocentric culture and that's why he's there. And it will be the death of us if we don't change it.
The theory of Gender as performance was most prominently laid out by the critical theorist Judith Butler in Gender Trouble.
But RuPaul's Drag Race delivers the essential messages of a dense philosophical argument in an exciting and hilarious TV show that reaches a much more diverse audience than third-year humanities students.
And he doesn't stop at TV, he also started a convention in L.A called DragCon.
RuPaul's DragCon is in it's third year, and is bigger than ever. The website explains:
RuPaul's DragCon is the place to find your tribe...For all the super creative and super sensitive people out there who live in world that says that you're too much or that you don't t fit in, DragCon says 'Welcome home, baby.'
And this year is the first time the convention is actively inviting kids and creating activities for them.
RuPaul explained to Vice how he had noticed more kids of 9-11 coming with their parents, keen to explore what else it out there, and conversely, parents bringing their kids to encourage them to engage with different types of people.
Essentially, RuPaul is changing the world one fierce Drag Queen at a time, making him more effective than any politician, ever and he knows it, 'I think Drag Race and DragCon are really changing the world on a bigger political landscape than what I could do in Washington... So I wouldn't have a political platform. My political platform is a TV show called Drag Race.'
Sashay away.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
