Just because the 6th season of RuPaul’s drag race ended last Monday, doesn’t mean we’ve heard the last of host and creator RuPaul Charles!
You may recall that the show got into some hot water with the transgender community over a segment called “Female or She-male.” There were members of the community who found the segment, and the use of the term “she-male,” problematic. After releasing a statement, that apologized for being “insensitive,” the network, Logo which airs Drag Race, pulled the episode and promised the challenge would not appear again.
Now, RuPaul has taken to the airwaves to defend himself against those in the trans community who consider RuPaul’s Drag Race transphobic. Here’s what he had to say about it during a recent appearance on WTF with Marc Marron
Does the word ‘tranny’ bother me? No. I love the word ‘tranny.’ … It’s not the transexual community who’s saying that. These are fringe people who are looking for storylines to strengthen their identity as victims. That is what we are dealing with. It’s not the trans community. ‘Cause most people who are trans have been through hell and high water… But some people haven’t and they’ve used their victimhood to create a situation where, ‘No! You look at me! I want you to see me the way you’re supposed to see me!’ You know, if your idea of happiness has to do with someone else changing what they say, what they do, you are in for a fucking hard-ass road… I dance to the beat of a different drummer. I believe everybody — you can be whatever the hell you wanna be, I ain’t stopping you. But don’t you dare tell me what I can do or what I can’t — say or can’t do. It’s just words, like, ‘Yeah, you hurt me!’ Bitch, you need to get stronger. If you’re upset by something I said you have bigger problems than you think.”
After Maron’s podcast aired, Buzzfeed reached out to LOGO for a comment. The statement, which Buzzfeed charactarized as “distancing itself from Charles” was careful to separate themselves from RuPaul’s words, “These comments did not come from Logo. We are committed to supporting the entire LGBT community and will not feature any anti-trans rhetoric on our shows.”
That, and the subsequent backlash, had RuPaul defending himself again, but this time on twitter:
Forget an outside threat, the “Gay Movement” will eat itself from the inside out #OrwellAnimalFarm
— RuPaul (@RuPaul) May 24, 2014
Orwell’s book “Animal Farm”: The pigs didn’t really want a revolution, they just wanted to BE ‘Farmer John’ — RuPaul (@RuPaul) May 24, 2014
The absurdity! It’s as if Jay Z got offended by Kanye using the word “Nigga”
— RuPaul (@RuPaul) May 24, 2014
It’s not the word itself, but the intention behind the word — RuPaul (@RuPaul) May 24, 2014
Trust! @LogoTV hasn’t “distanced” itself from me, not while I’m still payin’ the f%kin’ light bill over there
— RuPaul (@RuPaul) May 24, 2014
I’ve been a “tranny” for 32 years. The word “tranny” has never just meant transsexual. #TransvestiteHerstoryLesson — RuPaul (@RuPaul) May 24, 2014
I’m more “offended/hurt” by the misuse of the word “community”
— RuPaul (@RuPaul) May 24, 2014
Pop will eat itself… So will the “Gay Movement” — RuPaul (@RuPaul) May 24, 2014
RuPaul feels drag queens have the right to reclaim the word “tranny” because it doesn’t mean what some people thinks it means. Meanwhile, there are members of the trans community who have been called that word, maybe minutes before they had the crap beat out of them.
Lance Bass, Neil Patrick Harris and advice columnist, Dan Savage, all openly gay, each offended the trans community with their use of the word “tranny.”
So, this appears to be a thing. An ongoing thing between the cis gay and transgender communities. As a straight cis female, I wouldn’t even presume to step in the middle of this with an opinion. It just illustrates how, when similarly oppressed groups come together in solidarity, individual concerns can bubble up and threaten that unity. Should the LGB and T even be lumped together? There’s strength in numbers against a common oppressor, but there are so many concerns not shared between the groups.
Anyway, I did get a kick out of RuPaul noting that LOGO would never distance themselves from him, as long as he was “still paying the f*cking light bill…”
So true.
Via Queerty, Buzzfeed, The Daily Beast
