Your fave is a player: 7 famous, iconic drag queens who secretly love gaming as much as serving looks
Drag Race UK’s Asttina Mandella walks the runway in a Mortal Kombat-inspired Mileena look (BBC)
When you think of world-famous drag queens, you probably don’t associate them with, say, being incredible gamers who smash the competition in Mortal Kombat, but that just goes to show how little you actually know about some of your queeros.
Likewise the world of video game streaming: it might not seem like it would be a haven for LGBT+ people, but that’s not actually the case.
It turns out that from Drag Race faves to Twitch stars, there are plenty of drag queen superstars who you didn’t know were hardcore gamers.
Given that the art of drag has become a worldwide phenomenon, taking centre stage in television, fashion, and the beauty industry, it makes sense that drag queens across the globe are now entering the gaming world.
With two major announcements emerging from the drag gaming world recently — from drag queens testing their gaming skills on Twitch in Gamers Beat Cancer for the first Dragbox UK charity fundraiser to the fact that a RuPaul’s Drag Race video game is on the way this year, we thought we’d take a look at some of the drag queen gamers who are currently making waves.
Bob the Drag Queen and Monét X Change
RuPaul’s Drag Race BFF’s Bob the Drag Queen and Monét X Change are no strangers to revealing things about themselves to their fans, and on their popular podcast Sibling Rivalry, they dedicated an entire episode (aptly named The One About Video Games) to discussing being active gamers in the drag/queer world, and much more besides.
With Bob calling himself unbeatable on Mortal Kombat and Monét claiming to be the champ of Smash Bros., the Drag Race winners disclosed how they got into gaming, what games they play, and even name-dropped a few fellow RPDR contestants who are also big-time gamers.
With Smash Bros. being the main topic at one point in the podcast, they both shocked fans when they revealed who they choose to play as in the game, with Monét picking Young Link and Bob choosing Kirby, revealing that sometimes he makes himself a Mii Brawler.
Further into the episode, which you can watch above, the drag queen gamers explore and review all of the consoles they’ve ever owned from childhood into adulthood.
Bob confessed to owning a Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and a Gameboy whilst Monét revealed that she previously owned a Sega Saturn, PlayStation 1, 2, 3, and 4, Switch, Dreamcast, and both the Nintendo DS and DS Lite.
Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls
Courtesy of Kim Chi Chic Beauty
During the episode of Sibling Rivalry above, Bob and Monét also revealed that both season 8 drag queens Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls are major gamers.
Kim Chi, who after calling into the show spoke about how competitive both Bob and Monét are, revealed that not only does she play Smash Bros (maining the character Piranha Plant) but she also enjoys the Ragnarok Online mobile game and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Trixie Mattel
UNHhhh 96: “Gaming” with Trixie Mattel (WOWPresents)
Back in 2015, Trixie Mattel announced on Twitter that she was going to be a guest at the GaymerX LGBT Video Game Convention as their Boss of Honor whilst dressed up as the iconic Super Mario Bros. character Princess Peach. In an interview with Hornet, she revealed that not only does she play Fallout 4, but she also plays Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and the Super Smash Brothers for the 3DS.
In a conversation that ranged from which video game characters she thinks are secretly gay to how she draws inspiration from the likes of Lola Bunny and Princess Peach for her drag looks, Trixie discussed how gaming has impacted her life and career.
“Video games have always been a wonderful part of my life, growing up and right now,” she explained. “They are the only thing I do for leisure, a time where I’m not doing something to make money or to promote myself. It’s great to be another person for a while. It makes me feel better about my life when I return to it. Like when I do drag, I love it. But it’s great to come back to being me. You see your everyday life differently after being disconnected from it”.
Asttina Mandella
Instagram – Asttina Mandella
Another member of the drag queen gamers community is Asttina Mandella. Sashaying down the runway in the latest series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, the season two contestant shocked fans of the show when she revealed a chilling, Mortal Kombat-inspired look.
Dressed as Mileena from the popular arcade fighting game, Asttina tweeted her impressive transformation, captioning the video “THIS IS FOR YOU GAYMERS”.
THIS IS FOR YOU GAYMERS 💜💜 pic.twitter.com/At7koFRfwD
— Asttina Mandella (@AsttinaMandella) January 21, 2021
Deere
twitch.tv/deere
Twitch partner Deere is one of the most talked-about members of the LGBT+ gaming community, for all the right reasons. Playing popular games like Dead By Daylight and Resident Evil, the California-based drag queen was one of the first drag artists to start streaming on Twitch back in 2016.
Establishing a strong community alongside Drag Trashly, Deere wants to provide a strong presence for the LGBT+ community, especially drag queens.
It’s great to see such positive representation online.
