Dad turns to Reddit to learn about RuPaul’s Drag Race to engage with ‘drag fan son’
Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars attend the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
A single dad has turned to Reddit to learn about RuPaul’s Drag Race – because his son is a fan, and he wants to know how to react to terms like “the shade” and “I’m gagging”.
The dad explained on Reddit that he discovered the reality TV show on his son’s Netflix account. He wrote: “Okay so I’m a single parent of two amazing boys (4 year old and 15 year old).
“My 15 year old has a tough time at school, being shy and having a stutter,” he added. “I was cleaning up his room while he was in the shower and I need this show (rupaul) was paused on Netflix. He has been using different kind of phrases like ‘the shade’ and ‘I’m gagging’ (that one worried me at first). I googled the shade and found it was a drag term but I didn’t understand it.”
(Photo: Reddit)
“Is there any advice you can give me?”
He went on to explain that he won’t “embarrass” his son and “start quoting the show”, but wants to know how to react when his boy uses slang from Drag Race.
“I would like to know how to react. I was hoping I could get a crash course on this sort of chat,” he wrote. “Any tips would be awesome and any stories or general advice would help.”
He also said that he thinks his 15-year-old might be gay “for other reasons”, adding: “TL;DR single dad looking for help on rupaul chat for my son who isn’t out.”
The dad then received a huge “mostly positive response” from Reddit users. “I only wish I had a parent that was interested in learning and not shunning gay culture,” one wrote, while others pointed him in the direction of famous Drag Race sayings on YouTube.
Another shared: “You seem cool, thanks for being the great dad we all wish we’d had!”
Last month, RuPaul became the world’s first drag artist to be recognised with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The 57-year-old host of RuPaul’s Drag Race said he was “overcome with so much emotion” to get the honour he’d dreamed of since he was a child.
(Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
“This is absolutely the most important moment in my professional career,” Ru said.
He accepted the award with his husband Georges LeBar, three sisters and high school teacher Bill Pannell, who he cites as his inspiration.
“As a kid we’d come up here to Hollywood Boulevard,” he said as he received the star. “I’d look at all the stars and dream that one day, I could be one of the stars on Hollywood Boulevard.”
