New Drag Race Contestants Discuss Anti-Drag Hate Across the U.S.

The new queens from the next season of MTV's RuPaul's Drag Race sat down with GLAAD to discuss the anti-drag sentiment spreading among right-wingers across the country.

Speaking with GLAAD's Anthony Allen Ramos, the new contestants discussed how they experience and fight the relatively new phenomenon spreading across the country that has painted drag queens as somehow dangerous to children and communities.

"I don't know any drag queen who's trying to hurt nobody. Yeah, there's different kinds of drag - I know my drag can sometimes be very sexy too, but it's like I am not trying to hurt [anybody.] People who are swearing by their guns and their bibles are hurting more people than they know," said Salina EsTitties.

Fellow queen Jax explained that drag is a creative outlet of expression.

"[Drag] is so many things that we love about ourselves and our life experiences... [we] create these characters to just continue to highlight our own personal journeys. I went to art school and I'm combining all those aspects together to create this entity that can take people away from the harsh things that are happening in the world and make them happy and make them want to live bi-curiously live through me," Jax said.

Mistress Isabelle Brooks explained her approach to fighting the anti-drag crowd.

"I'm gonna utilize my platform and continue to just bring light and joy to people and take everyone out of their everyday life. At the end of the day, there's just stuff that we can't prevent, but we still have to take a stand and try our best to just keep spreading that positivity.," she said.

One queen observed that most people who have a misconception about drag shows have never been to one.

"I think the common thread between all of these people who think that there's an issue with drag have never actually been to a drag show. I know that every single drag show that I have ever been to, I leave feeling better, more empowered," Loosey LaDuca said.

Irene Dubois added, "We for so long, in our culture lived in a very gendered way and to break down those barriers; to of move into this world where gender is not something so rigid is very frightening and I think that drag in that way can seem like a new world that they're not ready to live in yet. I understand the fear, but if I could just say one thing to people who are afraid of drag: it is not inherently sexual. It is not inherently adult. The only thing that it inherently is is fun."

But drag panic isn't isolated to far-right groups. Right-wing media organizations have been perpetuating the fear by falsely claiming that drag is sexual or that having drag queens read to kids or interact with kids is sexualizing them.

This week, as news networks led up to the historic speakership votes in the House, Fox News host Harris Faulkner spent time on her show, Faulkner Focus, Fox feigning outrage that Crocs and the Teletubbies were involved with a RuPaul's Drag Race Drag Con in the United Kingdom, which began Friday and goes through the weekend.

There were 141 incidents of anti-LGBTQ protests and threats targeting specific drag events in 47 states in 2022, according to GLAAD.

Watch GLAAD's interview with the Drag Race stars below.