RuPaul Answers the Question of Whether He’d Allow a ‘Bio Queen’ to Compete on His Show

Have you ever wondered to yourself “Can women compete on Drag Race?” If you have, well, we finally have an answer. In an extensive interview with The Guardian today, RuPaul talked about his feelings on “bio queens” and trans women who have already transitioned appearing on his show.

Much of The Guardian interview is about gender identity and drag. Ru explains that while his show doesn’t have a political agenda in terms of policy, Drag Race does have politics at its core, due to the way it addresses identity. He explains:

But it has a position on identity, which is really the most political you can get. It has politics at its core, because it deals with: how do you see yourself on this planet? That’s highly political. It’s about recognising that you are God dressing up in humanity, and you could do whatever you want.

RuPaul also explains the difference of drag and being transgender. He likens it to currency, “I think identities are like value systems or currencies; there’s not just one. Understand the value of different currencies, and what you could do with them.”

 

So, can women compete on Drag Race or not?

From there, though, it turns into whether or not women can compete on Drag Race. After all, trans women are women, so could a trans woman compete on Drag Race? After all, there have been many transgender Drag Race alumnae. And Peppermint even competed while being openly trans. In Peppermint’s case, RuPaul said:

Peppermint didn’t get breast implants until after she left our show; she was identifying as a woman, but she hadn’t really transitioned. [Would I consider a contestant who had fully transitioned?] Probably not. You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body. … We’ve had some girls who’ve had some injections in the face and maybe a little bit in the butt here and there, but they haven’t transitioned.

And what about cisgender women who do drag, sometimes called “bio queens”? RuPaul says no:

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.

Can women compete on Drag Race? Though RuPaul says “no,” do you agree? And what do you think of the full interview? Sound off below!

Featured image by Dylan Coulter for the Guardian