RuPaul’s Drag Race: Why Fans Should Support The First Straight Queen

RuPaul’s Drag Race’s latest controversy centers on a straight queen, Maddy Morphosis. However, fans of the epically diverse show should support Maddy.

You Are Reading :RuPaul’s Drag Race Why Fans Should Support The First Straight Queen

Controversy is already stewing over RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14, with the casting of the first heterosexual queen, Maddy Morphosis. The show historically casts gay men, with diversions from the model in recent years. Trans women and, most recently, a trans man have joined the ranks of drag queens. Neither casting choice yielded as much fallout as Maddy’s.

On her bio, Maddy labels herself the most overrated drag queen from Arkansas. Her Kentucky Fried Chicken-inspired Colonel Sanders drag went viral this Halloween. She’s been doing drag for over five years and has honed in on a bald head as her signature look. Since Maddy’s sexuality was made public, she’s received backlash. Some show fans take issue with a straight, white man, the epitome of privilege, taking up space on the historic queer show. Others pointed out how a trans man Gottmik, who performed in the Savage X Fenty show, received immense support. Queens like Peppermint, who discussed her journey to come out as a trans woman on season 9, have also primarily received support.

Maddy acknowledged fans’ frustration and addressed the controversy online. In a statement on Instagram, Maddy addressed the controversy around her casting. She shared that she fell in love with drag after exploring her gender identity in LGBTQI* spaces after high school. She dismissed arbitrary boundaries between definitions of masculine and feminine as a perpetuation of toxic masculinity. She wrote, “if there’s a message that I hope to convey to people, it’s that you don’t have to inhibit the box society puts you in just to be comfortable in your own sexuality.” Maddy also shared some behind-the-scenes shots on Instagram.

A post shared by Maddy Morphosis (@maddymorphosis)

While she appreciated all the support she’s received amid the controversy, she encouraged fans to show support to the rest of the Drag Race season 14 queens as well. Maddy also spoke on straight men in drag labeled as a persecuted group. She wrote, “I’m not here to show the world that ‘straight guys can do drag.” Maddy emphasized that she’s never felt persecuted as a straight man in drag scenes, but pointed to how AFAB, trans, and POC folks face more obstacles. More than anything, she hopes more than anything that her presence will not necessarily be a door opener just for straight men, but for all underrepresented groups in the art form.

Straight women, trans women, straight men, and beyond perform drag across the country under a myriad of labels they choose for themselves. The art form is radically inclusionary in its definition and defiant of strict boundaries on identities of all sorts. Michelle Visage, longtime judge, and RuPaul’s right-hand woman, frequently says she identifies as a drag queen. With an emphasis on what is possible rather than what is not, RuPaul’s Drag Race fans should know better than anyone that everyone’s born naked and the rest is a drag.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/rupauls-drag-race-why-support-first-straight-queen/