Drag Race royalty Detox challenges RuPaul to ‘put your money where your mouth is’ and start casting trans queens
Detox has called for the inclusion of tran queens in RuPaul’s Drag Race. (Getty)
Detox called out the ‘conscious exclusion’ of trans queens in the Drag Race season 12 cast.
The two-time runner-up accused Drag Race of feigning inclusivity with its newest cast, which once again is devoid of openly trans contestants.
“Enough with the feigned inclusivity. Time to start putting your money where your mouth is,” she tweeted.
“It’s not about political correctness, it’s about the conscious exclusion of an integral part of the drag community.
“I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for the trans performers that took me under their wings, and they deserve the same kinds of opportunities.”
And to @RuPaulsDragRace: Enough with the feigned inclusivity. Time to start putting your money where your mouth is. #AllDragIsValid
— Detox (@TheOnlyDetox) January 23, 2020
It’s not about political correctness*, it’s about the conscious exclusion of an integral part of the drag community. I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for the trans performers that took me under their wings, and they deserve the same kinds of opportunities.
— Detox (@TheOnlyDetox) January 24, 2020
The Drag Race season 12 cast includes the first French queen and the first Iranian-Canadian queen to ever compete on the series.
However there are no openly trans or non-binary queens, drag kings or AFAB queens, something that fans were quick to pick up on.
is this really ANOTHER season of #DragRace w/o a trans woman being apart of it? can someone correct me if i’m wrong? like damn…
— kat wilderness ? (@katinthewild) January 23, 2020
Drag Race really out here choosing the same cisgender male queens when there’s a plethora of talent among trans queens, bio queens, & drag kings. It’s really rotten that there have been over 140 queens and only 8 of them have been trans, some of them having transitioned afterward
— ᴛᴜᴄᴋᴇʀ (@imtuckermoore) January 23, 2020
THIS. and ALSO WHERE ARE THE #transmen in the #pitcrew ??!!?!?!
— The Gaymer Otter (@TheGaymerOtter) January 24, 2020
@bouletbrothers have managed to achieve greater diversity and inclusivity over 3 seasons of Dragula than we’ve had in all the seasons of RPDR. It can be achieved if you want it @RuPaulsDragRace
— Scott ASmith (@allsm_scott) January 23, 2020
Drag Race, which returns for season 12 on February 28, has long been criticised for failing to include drag queens who aren’t cis men.
RuPaul infamously once said that he would “probably not” allow a trans woman to compete on the show.
He made his remarks after Peppermint, an openly trans women, competed on the show, but wrongly drew a line between those women who have had gender-confirming surgeries and those who have not.
“Peppermint didn’t get breast implants until after she left our show; she was identifying as a woman, but she hadn’t really transitioned,” he told The Guardian in 2018.
“Drag loses its sense of danger and its sense of irony once it’s not men doing it, because at its core it’s a social statement and a big f-you to male-dominated culture.”
RuPaul later said his remarks were “taken out of context.”
“We share a history. The two worlds [of drag and trans people] intersect, but also maintain their own unique qualities,” he told The Sunday Times in 2019.
“One of our contestants, Monica Beverly Hillz, said it best when she said, ‘Drag is what I do, trans is who I am.'”
Of the few trans queens to compete on the show, only Monica Beverly Hills, Peppermint and Gia Gunn (during her All Stars 4 run) have competed openly as trans women.
Sonique, Carmen Carrera, Stacey Layne Matthews, Jiggly Caliente and Kenya Michaels all came out as trans following their stints on Drag Race.
There are also a number of queens who have identified as non-binary or gender-queer post Drag Race, including Courtney Act, Aja, Sasha Velour and Jinx Monsoon.
