Let’s start with a quote: “Whoever you are, keep that on the inside. I don’t want to see no heels, no wigs, no personality. Life is black and white.”
So… who said it? Was it Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, or was it a lyric that Mistress Isabelle Brooks lip synced during RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Season 15 Rusical challenge?
The overwhelming amount of specificity gives it away; this is a line pulled from the Emmy-winning franchise’s Footloose parody, a musical number that sharply skewers the prevailing sentiment surrounding drag performers, trans people, and the LGBTQ+ community writ large.
But what’s shocking — or what’s so upsetting because it’s not so shocking — is that this musical episode was filmed last year, months before Tennessee passed a law making it essentially illegal for minors to be in the presence of a drag queen or potentially any gender-nonconforming individual. The Drag Race queens fought for the right to hold a drag ball in the fictional town of West Bumtuck months before all but six states passed or attempted to pass laws that would curb the rights of queer Americans. The outcry from conservative politicians against some of America’s most vulnerable communities was so predictable that the brains behind Drag Race wrote an entire musical about it long before any Republicans were caught liking gay thirst traps on Instagram.
But just because this current wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is predictable doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. Once Tennessee passed its anti-drag law, the first law of its kind, the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise knew they had to act. The result: a partnership with the ACLU and a creation of the Drag Defense Fund, a means by which people can donate to the fight against these dangerous new laws.
With the fund in full swing, Decider reached out to RuPaul’s Drag Race executive producers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey to talk about the fund, attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, and how drag really is for everyone.
Decider: When did you get an inkling that you wanted to partner with the ACLU to launch the Drag Defense Fund?
Randy Barbato: We have weekly creative meetings with the producers of Drag Race run by [executive producer] Tom Campbell and the rest of the team and it started coming up in discussion at these creative meetings, that we needed to do something. We all just wanted it to be something focused, targeted, helpful, not hysterical — and we thought, “ACLU. Let’s partner with the ACLU.” And we reached out to Viacom and they were incredibly supportive. And so together, we talked to ACLU and World of Wonder and Viacom made pretty significant contributions to seed this fund — and here we are. Drag Race isn’t an overtly political show. I mean, it is political by nature of its presence, but what’s going on today — it’s just forced us to take it a step further.
RuPaul even addressed the issue on video. That’s a big deal. What are the pros and cons when you’re deciding, “We’re going to put Ru on camera and make this”?
Fenton Bailey: Ru speaks for himself, but what’s happened here is that — it’s like that old analogy of the egg in the saucepan and the water’s getting a little bit hotter, a little bit hotter. It’s been a very gradual creep, and the passing of this Tennessee bill was definitely a threshold. But what’s been happening here has been happening for some time. I think it’s something like 400 [anti-LGBTQ+] bills in the works. I think 1,597 books have been banned — and mostly LGBTQ+ titles — in the past year. This has been a gradual process and now is the time really to start pushing back to make sure that no one suffers from this Tennessee law, to make sure this Tennessee law gets repealed, and do whatever we can to make sure no other bills get passed.
Barbato: I do think there’s 420 bills in the works at different stages across the country. When you look at that map, which you can see at the ACLU website, that’s when it really becomes clear that there is a major movement going on to prevent some freedom of expression and to prevent the rights of trans people and drag queens. It’s the map that tells the story, and it is telling us we’ve got to do something, registering to vote, and figuring out how to push back beyond vitriol, beyond just screaming and shouting —
Bailey: By the way: there’s nothing wrong with that!
Barbato: Screaming and shouting is great. Protesting is great. What we can bring to the party is a different, strategic way to fight back on the legislation. That’s where we felt we could make an actual, physical donation and encourage people who watch Drag Race — and allies who love drag queens as well — to make donations.
The most recent episode featured “Wigloose: The Rusical,” a Footloose parody where a town outlaws drag instead of dancing. Speaking of the slow simmer that led to this moment — Season 15 was filmed last year, but it feels like it was written two weeks ago. What do you make of the unfortunate timeliness of that challenge?
Barbato: I really gotta give props to the producing team, to Tom Campbell, to Brett [Leland] McLaughlin, who writes the music. It was in the air, it’s in the air, and producing the show is our political act. It always has been and that’s such a timely and unfortunate example of it.
Now that we’re on Season 15, you’re now dealing with queens applying to be on the show who literally grew up watching Drag Race. They were the kids that conservatives are making false arguments about, saying that kids shouldn’t see drag and it will impact them negatively. What are you noticing about these 21/22-year-old queens, and how do you think Drag Race has impacted them?
Bailey: To the extent that because of Drag Race, drag has been more visible on TV, yes, it has had an impact. But also drag has existed forever and the idea that it is a threat, the idea that drag queens are grooming children, these are myths used to invoke fear. Drag queens aren’t grooming children. It just isn’t happening. It’s like that panic that it is still going on about who’s in which bathroom. It’s never been a problem. It’s never been an issue except for those people trying to create a climate of fear.
Barbato: When I think of younger people watching Drag Race, I think of my own children and I think of the amazing lessons they’ve learned about humanity, watching Drag Race with me. I usually watch it on my computer before it’s locked versus on a Friday night, but my kids and friends of theirs at school are big fans of it. So now I do watch it every Friday night and I’m really proud of that because I think that there are amazing lessons to be learned, particularly on how to treat other people with respect, how to honor and recognize people who are different than you and how to fine tune your sense of humor.
Bailey: Or just have one, period.
There are also events like RuPaul’s DragCon where you see families attending with children. There are some all-ages events, and then there are vendors selling leather jockstraps too. It all coexists and is proof that we can all get along. What have you learned from putting on DragCon?
Bailey: I think you’ve just said something really important. We can all get along. Certain people are choosing not to get along and to create the idea that we can’t get along. It’s a divisive strategy, and it’s not the direction in which we need to go as a community, as a country. Ultimately it’s an attempt to turn the clock back, to go back to old, outdated norms of gender and stereotypes. The good news is that any attempt to turn the clock back fails. It will only fail. The sad news is that there will be pain and suffering and innocent people caught up in that. But that’s why it’s really important to push back, to fight back. I know that didn’t really answer your question. It’s because of what you said, that we can all get along. It’s that frame of mind versus one that’s trying to pit people against each other.
Barbato: It’s just sad because drag is super inclusive, super positive. And yes, there’s all different kinds of drag and some of it is best featured in the midnight hour. It’s an art form and it’s meant for everyone to enjoy. This notion that somehow drag or drag queens are the enemy of the public is so misguided and it really is coming from such few voices with big ol’ megaphones in their hands. My suggestion is that people spend a night at your local drag bar and have a good time and relax and discover how entertaining and enlightening drag can be.
Bailey: And if you’re from Tennessee, or if you’re not, if going to a drag bar is too much, just think about Dolly Parton. She is a drag queen and has said as much herself. Drag is for everyone, number one. It’s always been around, number two. And some of our favorite entertainers are in drag. You’re born naked and the rest is drag.
Barbato: Going back to the bill in Tennessee, the 420 pieces of legislature all over the country: when the rights of one community are threatened or taken away, it’s the beginning of the rights of other communities being taken away and all of us are less free. This is something we all need to pay attention to. We cannot ignore this. The target might on the surface seem like the LGBTQ community, but actually we are all the target. We all must stand up and defend the civil rights of everyone. And that’s why we stepped forward and partnered with MTV and the ACLU to create the Drag Defense Fund. That’s why we think this moment is really critical and we’re really hoping more and more people will help join and make the difference.
I also wanted to point out, because people may not realize this, but you both came up in the scene with RuPaul in the 1980s. You go that far back, back to the era that Luxx Noir London pulled from for a recent runway look. How do you compare this moment with everything you have seen over the past 40+ years?
Barbato: We grew up together. And I will tell you, I remember that time. I remember that Ru. He was as spiritual, he was as wise, he was as optimistic about the future, and there have been so many challenges. The pendulum has swung back and forth so many times in our lifetime, and so it’s not surprising where we are now, and yet it can’t be ignored. That was a great moment last week. It caught Ru off guard.
Bailey: I do see a continuity in the sense that, back then [drag] was at the Pyramid Club or Limelight. It was sort of downtown. It was on the scene but it was off the screen. If the last 40 years show anything, it shows how we as a community have become more visible, and that that is fundamentally progress. So as dark as this moment is, as frustrating and challenging as it is, I think the overall arc is in the right direction. And that’s the reason why visibility is so important. If you’re able to render something invisible, it’s as good as erasing it, as if it doesn’t exist.
Randy and I’ve had long careers. I can’t remember what year it was made [The Strange History of] Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but the military had this policy that you could be gay in the military as long as you didn’t talk about it and you didn’t ask about it. So you were essentially invisible. You didn’t exist. It had a terrible impact on morale. It led to all sorts of blackmailing and other bullying. It was a disaster for the security of the United States. So what I’m saying in a very long winded way is that we’ve learned that visibility is a good thing and this is not the moment to go back on that. And we won’t.
For more information about the Drag Defense Fund, visit aclu.org/dragdefense