It’s been about 3 months since I last posted here on Medium, and nearly 9 months since I started actively writing RuPaul’s Drag Race, from the original seasons, the extra Untucked episodes, and the All Stars seasons. This may post may sound like it comes from the perspective of a “late bloomer”, and in a way it has.
I’ve been openly queer since 14 and yet these last 3 years of my life, or rather these last 9 months of it have been the most transformative for my queer identity. It wasn’t that I was oblivious to the drag scene or RuPaul’s show. My sister was a big fan of the series, and despite her support of me being gay, a part of me didn’t want to partake in the beauty that came with this LGBT art. There were reasons as to why this was of course; I grew up in a homophobic Caribbean household and my position as the only gay kid among a group of straight male friends didn’t give me much freedom for expression. Fear of being ostracized made me hesitant to even view queer things. Growing up and returning to NYC, as well as finding an amazing boyfriend who adored drag race helped change that.
Fast forward to the present day and I’ve become adept at clocking when a drag queen doesn’t know the lyrics to a song she’s lip syncing, knowing when a queen’s makeup is flopping, and when her padding is not properly secured. I’ve come to love the transformation that occurs not only in the “Werk” room on screen, but the ones that happen in the bars of NYC and abroad.
It’s the tender moments of Drag Race, however, that have taught me the most. RuPaul’s own advice to Q in the latest season spoke to me personally. To be more specific, the latter had shared that her own grandmother had ceased to speak to her after learning she was a drag queen, to which Ru responded “Some people would rather lose those they love that deconstruct their entire belief system”.
It’s moments like this that not only remind me of the beauty of shared experiences, but teach me that the human experience can be anything we make it. Watching drag has taught me to treat every day like it’s my last and explore myself in makeup and even dresses. It has shattered the boundaries of who I thought I was and who I imagined myself to be.
I just want to say thank you to every drag queen out there. For boys like me and for people around the world, you are a symbol of freedom and expression.
