RuPaul Charles has done something very unlike RuPaul: admit that he might’ve been wrong about something. In a recent interview on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, RuPaul expressed a more open mind towards what a drag queen could be, inspired by the show’s first trans-masculine contestant Gottmik.
When Colbert asked him what is the biggest lesson he learned after 13 seasons of drag race, RuPaul responded, “To keep an open mind. I walked into this thing with an idea of what drag is, but the kids have a different idea; they keep changing it,” adding. “I keep moving with what the kids are doing.” Kabe Gottlieb, AKA Gottmik, is only the third contestant to enter the show identifying as transgender, and the first to be trans-masculine. RuPaul went on in the interview to described Gottmik as “fantastic.”
Gottlieb is an L.A-based makeup artist and performer who has worked with celebrities such as Lil Nas X and Heidi Klum. Gottmik won her first lip-sync battle, performing “Rumors” by Lindsey Lohan.
RuPaul has come under fire in the past for his strict description of what a drag queen should be. In 2018, RuPaul said that he probably wouldn’t have let transgender contestant Peppermint on the show if she had already begun receiving gender-affirming care. Later, he likened the idea of letting a trans woman who is transitioning on the show to letting an athlete on performance-enhancing drugs into the Olympics. The show has also used trans-phobic terminology in the past, such as the “she-mail” segment, a feature on the show that appeared up until Season Six.
Many in the LGTBQ community feel the definition of drag held by RuPaul is too narrow, with the expression of the art form appearing in a multitude of different ways by people whose gender identities run the gamut. RuPaul has yet to indicate whether he would allow a transitioning woman onto the show. It is worth noting that Gottlieb has received top-surgery.
I hope RuPaul will show a willingness to keep listening to “the kids” and accept that drag is a form of art that doesn’t need such a rigid definition.
I would also like to thank Gottmik for putting Lil Nas X in this divine Nicki Minaj drag and truly embracing her motto to “Crash the cis-stem.”
