No matter your opinion of drag you must respect Rupaul as an entertainer. Here are some of his accomplishments as noted in Wikipedia: An American drag queen, actor, model, singer, songwriter, and television personality. Since 2009, he has produced and hosted the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, for which he has received six Primetime Emmy Awards, in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Terry Gross of NPR did a very enlightening interview this week that discussed "RuPaul's Recipe For Success. Love Yourself And Stay Flexible!" Such good advice. I personally am not a big fan of DRAG as entertainment, although my first outing/escapes were to clubs featuring drag. There I did find an accepting venue that was both welcoming and enlightening. Rupal's major accomplishment is the elevation of drag from seedy clubs to mainstream entertainment. His comment during the interview:
But also, I knew that, commercially, as someone who's paying attention, that if I wanted to make it [drag] mainstream, I would have to be non-threatening to Betty and Joe Beer Can. And what I did was I came up with a recipe, which was one-part Cher, two-parts David Bowie, one-part Diana Ross and two heaping spoonfuls of Dolly Parton.It worked! And that we can respect.
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RuPaul is known for not taking gender seriously, and for transgender performers, his comments have been problematic. After an inappropriate tweet he did reel his words all the way back - “I understand and regret the hurt I have caused,” he wrote. “The trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement." Apology accepted.
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