RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni launch nation’s first PAC led by drag performers
BU VICTOR MELAMED
Six veteran drag performers and former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestants announced the launch of Drag PAC last month, the nation’s first political action committee led by drag artists, reports The Hill.
Founding members include drag power-houses Jinkx Monsoon, BenDeLaCreme, Peppermint and Monét X Change. The PAC, they said, is their response to rising anti-LGBTQ hate and violence and legislation that threatens to roll back their rights.
“We as queer people have to recognize that we are part of a community and the reason that we have the ease of life that we have now is because so many people worked for decades to make that happen. It’s our job to keep things moving in the right direction,” said BenDeLaCreme, a two-time contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
“We as queer people have to recognize that we are part of a community and the reason that we have the ease of life that we have now is because so many people worked for decades to make that happen. It’s our job to keep things moving in the right direction.”
“A lot of this political rhetoric does have real life effects and consequences on people of multiple marginalized identities,” said Peppermint, who placed second on the ninth season of the Emmy-winning reality series.
The performer and transgender rights activist made her Broadway debut in 2018 in The Go-Go’s-inspired musical “Head Over Heels,” becoming the first trans woman to originate a lead role, reports The Hill.
“Each time people who are attacking the queer community come back to the table it’s sharper, and stronger, and more impactful, and it hurts more each time,” she said.
Drag PAC’s launch comes amidst a tidal wave of legislation targeting LGBTQ people across the country. More than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills were filed this year in state legislatures, according to the ACLU, and 39 became law.
“We’re in the middle of something historic,” Monét X Change, winner of the fourth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” says in a video released this week by Drag PAC. “This is the most important election cycle for queer people’s rights and freedoms in our lifetime.”
