‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Releases Anti-Bullying PSA: “Stop the Threats, Stop the Racism”

RuPaul’s Drag Race is hot off of another six Emmy wins—and the groundbreaking show has something very important to say. In a new PSA released by VH1, a lineup of queens from past seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race address an issue that’s plagued the online conversation surrounding the beloved series: bullying.

The video begins with the queens—Mariah Paris Balenciaga, Latrice Royale, The Vixen, Mayhem Miller, Heidi N Closet, and Widow Von’Du—introducing themselves with their real names (Elijah, Tim, Tony, Dequan, Trevien, and Ray) and running through their hobbies, passions, and some family facts. These sides of their personalities are what you don’t get to see on Drag Race, and they’re sharing for a reason: to show that drag queens are people. They aren’t emotionally detached superstars. Their eleganza doesn’t make them invincible. Underneath all the wigs and pads and glitz and glam, they’re people.

This doesn’t seem like something that needs to be said, but recent months—or really, recent years—of intensifying online harassment targeting queens has deemed it necessary to point out what should be obvious. And, as this video makes clear, this targeted harassment disproportionately targets queens of color, including judges of color. Toxic enemies of the show drove Canada’s Drag Race judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman off Twitter, and they routinely slide into the DMs of queens of color to throw slurs around.

This issue has plagued online discourse around the show for a few seasons now. It’s even made its way onto the show itself, most notably during The Vixen’s run in Season 10. The Chicago queen regularly broke the fourth wall to break down how certain viewers perceive the show, and how these viewers consistently rally around the thin, young, white queens and then lash out at Black queens. The queens themselves have tackled this issue head on in recent months, as seen in Season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen and Season 9 runner-up Peppermint’s must-watch hourlong conversation on racism in the Drag Race fandom.

This PSA is another example of the franchise itself addressing the problem, following Instagram posts calling out toxicity and urging fans to spread kindness. However, this is the first time that the franchise has put a face—or, rather, faces—to the message.

The franchise continues on networks and on streaming with RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue airing on Fridays on VH1, and new episodes of Drag Race Holland streaming on WOW Presents Plus on Thursdays.

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