Drag Race All Stars 4 edited out RuPaul trans confrontation, says Gia Gunn
Gia Gunn on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4 contestant Gia Gunn has said that she confronted RuPaul about trans issues on camera, but the moment was left out the show.
Gia Gunn, who competed on the sixth season of Drag Race before coming out as a transgender woman, made a comeback on the current fourth season of Drag Race All Stars.
Her appearance was poignant, as RuPaul received flack in March 2018 for suggesting that post-transition trans women should be barred from competing on Drag Race, comparing them to athletes taking steroids.
RuPaul’s comments were not referenced on All Stars, but Gia Gunn has revealed that she did challenge the host on-camera about the remarks.
Gia Gunn confronted RuPaul about the controversy on Drag Race all Stars
In an interview with the Race Chaser podcast, Gunn said: “I really went on there for one reason only, which was to bring trans visibility to the show and open doors for other types of drag queens to come through.”
She added: “I did [talk to RuPaul]. Of course it wasn’t aired… which was a little disappointing. I very well knew that none of that was going to air because the show is not about making her look anything but great.”
“What was the whole point of me coming here if she wasn’t going to walk the walk and talk the talk?”
— Gia Gunn
The drag queen says she confronted the host while filming the start of the third episode, “Snatch Game of Love,” which was the episode that saw her eliminated from the competition.
It doesn’t sound like the conversation went the way that Gunn wanted, as she added: “I had a hard time on the show because I did exchange words with her.
“I felt completely disregarded. I didn’t feel acknowledged. I didn’t feel wanted, to be there in the competition.
“Truthfully it really hurt my feelings and I had a really big breakdown in between sets and I was just like, ‘If I’m getting this feeling from her and I don’t feel very welcome, then what the f**k am I doing here?'”
Gia Gunn ‘wanted to quit’ Drag Race All Stars after RuPaul trans clash
Of the icy unaired exchange with RuPaul, Gunn continued: “I thought she would have been a lot more welcoming… if we were going to bring somebody on the show to clean up somebody’s mess, obviously that fell on me, right?
“I knew while being cast that I was going on there to basically show the world that this show does ‘support’ trans and that she does see trans queens as drag queens.
RuPaul appears on the RuPaul’s Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular
“So for me to get there and for us to be on episode three, never have eye contact with her, never have any sort of acknowledgement of… ‘your journey has been so beautiful to watch,’ or anything of that sort, I just felt really hurt.
“What was the whole point of me coming here if she wasn’t going to walk the walk and talk the talk?”
Gunn said she considered quitting the show after the row but didn’t want people to “see me as a quitter.”
