RuPaul’s Drag Race star Willam Belli shocks fans with transphobic comments
(Getty)
RuPaul’s Drag Race star Willam Belli stunned fans in an online show with comments about trans people.
The drag artist, who appeared on the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, was called out by fans over comments made on her live TV show ‘Suck Less’.
During one segment on the Fullscreen show, Willam and fellow drag queen Courtney Act answered questions from viewers seeking help and advice.
(Reddit/Courtney Act and Willam Belli)
The show usually involves light-hearted jokes, petty scats, and shallow comments about their viewers’ appearances, but Willam took things too far in a question about trans people.
It was sparked by an email from a female viewer who has asked for advice about dating a transgender man, and feeling uneasy about him not having a penis.
While Courtney Act tried to give some good advice, Willam stunned viewers by insisting: “just because you cut your titties off and take testosterone, that doesn’t change your chromosomes.”
Willam referenced the murder of Brandon Teena, a trans man who was brutally raped and murdered in Nebraska in 1993, whose real-life story was told in the 1999 movie ‘Boys Don’t Cry’.
(Getty/Boys Don’t Cry, 1999)
The drag artist incredibly appeared to try and justify Brandon’s murder, saying: “He bamboozled the girl… he was trans but he could have told them.”
Addressing the person asking for advice, William added: “Here’s the thing, he’s not your boyfriend if he’s not a boy and he’s not f**king you… just because someone says they’re a boy, doesn’t make them a boy.
“If they haven’t had the science [referring to hormones/surgery], they’re not a boy yet. Just because you cut your titties off and take testosterone, that doesn’t change your chromosomes.”
Courtney Act derided Willam’s comments as “transphobic”, before noting that the quote mirrors trans-exclusionary feminist author Germaine Greer, who claimed that “just because you lop off your d**k and then wear a dress, that doesn’t make you a f***ing woman.”
Courtney told Willam: “You just accidentally quoted Germaine Greer!”
After the quote was recounted, Willam emphatically agreed with Greer.
“Once you do all that science stuff, then it does [make you a woman],” she said.
(YouTube/Willam Belli)
Thankfully, Courtney Act was there to save the day, demonstrating tact and wisdom as she debunked Willam’s claims.
“You’re dating a trans man, by the sounds of it,” she told the viewer.
“Sometimes men have vaginas, and sometimes men have penises, and that is a fact of the world we live in.
“[Just because he] does not have a penis, it doesn’t mean that he can’t pleasure you.”
She also criticised the transphobic language that had been used.
“Saying that he’s a butch lesbian is disrespectful. He’s not a butch lesbian. He identifies as a man, and you need to respect his identification.”
(Getty/Courtney Act)
Courtney continued to counter Willam’s brash comments, saying: “It’s not up to you to choose how somebody identifies.”
Willam’s comments did not go down well with fans of Drag Race, which has had a number of transgender contestants.
On the Reddit, one fan wrote: “christ, as a trans man this is genuinely disappointing and hurtful.”
Another added: “I really don’t get gays being transphobic. there’s already soooo much negativity from outside the community, why just spew even more inside the community at people who’ve had similar experiences?”
Others praised Courtney Act for her calm and diplomatic answers, with one fan adding: “Courtney, if you’re one of the queens who occasionally shows up on reddit, thanks so much!”
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