Victoria Scone is First ‘Drag Race’ Cis Female Competitor

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season Three has revealed their next set of queens set to hit the screen, and the new cycle is set to make Drag Race history, featuring the first cis, female drag performer, Victoria Scone.

Drag is for all genders, though Ru Paul’s Drag Race has traditionally featured mostly cis men. The show recently featured its first trans male competitor, Gottmik, and it has hosted a number of nonbinary contestants. A number of trans women performers were also on the show, though most were not undergoing gender-affirming surgery or transitioning during their time on the show. Peppermint was the show’s first openly trans contestant, though she waited to fully transition until after her time on the show.

Ru admitted during a 2018 interview that he “probably” wouldn’t have admitted a trans women on the show if she had already started gender-affirming surgery. “You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body,” he told The Guardian. “It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing.”

The comments were immediately met with backlash, to which Ru tweeted, “You can take performance-enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics.”

The internet, including previous contestants, slammed Ru’s statement, prompting an apology just seven hours after the tweet. “I understand and regret the hurt I have caused,” he wrote. “The trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement. You are my teachers.”

Victoria enters the show as the first cis woman competitor, though she calls herself a drag queen and a drag artist just like everyone else. “I understand it’s helpful to use AFAB, when we are specifically speaking about the fact that I do not own certain cis-male drag queen genitalia. But we don’t describe cis-male Drag Queens as AMAB Queens, so as a handy tip, I’d just call us all drag queens or drag artists, and if you must know, I identify as a Tony Award!”

She says most people are welcoming when they see her perform. “Once they actually see me perform, they realize that we’re all doing the same thing. We’re all dressing up; we’re all putting on a show. I’m putting on a character, the same as a cis-male Drag Queen. We are ALL putting on a character to entertain!”

The internet reacted to the announcement, most saying it’s an overdue decision, and some clapping back to cis, gay fans objecting to the gender-inclusive move.

And she is an icon. Finally!!!!! @VictoriaScone ???? https://t.co/WJoXKPHEU8

— BIMINI! (@biminibabes) August 18, 2021

This one’s for you @VictoriaScone ❤️‍???? #DragRaceUK pic.twitter.com/lnOsHDrXgP

— ????spicy mami???? (@FridaSwahlos) August 19, 2021

I’m glad to see @VictoriaScone on @dragraceukbbc. Cis women have done drag forever – Meow Meow, Dolly Rocket, Alpha Bites and so many of my faves. Drag is for everyone – feel the fantasy!

— Juno Dawson (@junodawson) August 18, 2021

While fans largely rejoiced over the announcement, many cited Ru’s problematic rhetoric surrounding gender diversity on the show. Regarding cis women performing drag, Ru said in the same interview, “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. So for men to do it, it’s really punk rock, because it’s a real rejection of masculinity.”

So, while this is a step in the right direction, 12 years into the show’s tenure, Drag Race still hasn’t had any transitioning or post-transition trans women competitors, nor have they had any drag kings as part of the competition.

We’re eager to see Victoria Scone strut her stuff this cycle of Drag Race UK and hope her participation in the show only works to expand the scope of competitors featured in the future.

Photo courtesy of Victoria Scone’s Facebook