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Guest judge Lady Gaga, left, with host RuPaul on RuPauls Drag Race. ] Video: newsday.com/tv
RuPaul revs up
his Drag Race
BY FRANK LOVECE
Special to Newsday
I
ts just a TV show. And a
reality show, at that. Yet
despite rising homophobia
and hate crimes, the
LGBTQ-inclusive drag-
queen competition RuPauls
Drag Race not only remains
popular but is actually expand-
ing from the gay-oriented Logo
to the more mainstream VH1,
where season 9 premieres
tonight at 8. Episodes will then
encore on Logo.
This is our 11th cycle [in-
cluding two all-star seasons]
and we dont seem to be going
away anytime soon, says
RuPaul, 56, the impresario of a
drag empire that has also
included the behind-the-scenes
show RuPauls Drag Race:
Untucked, the womens-
makeover show RuPauls Drag
U and the Gay for Play Game
Show Starring RuPaul.
A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW
How does he and RuPaul
is indifferent to which pronoun
one uses explain this expan-
sion in the face of new difficul-
ties confronting LGBTQ indi-
viduals since the election?
Philosophically, it turns out.
Its not just homophobia or
xenophobia or sexism or
racism, he says. That dark-
ness is always a component of
our planet. And its now having
B29
a big resurgence. But that
darkness is just a huge fear,
and it knows that we as a
human race are moving for-
ward and its power is diminish-
ing so this is the last big
gasp for that darkness. Dark-
ness cannot survive in the
presence of light, and our
secret weapon is our love, our
movement, our light, our abil-
ity to open our hearts. . . . I
gotta tell you, kiddo, we as
humans are moving forward,
not backward.
DRAG DEMOGRAPHICS
And thats true, he says, even
in red states, from where a
couple of this seasons contes-
tants, including Johnson
County, Tennessees Eureka
OHara, hail. The South has
always had a place in its cul-
ture for eccentric behavior.
And the South has always been
a mecca for drag queens, says
RuPaul, a Louisiana native who
lived in Atlanta for 11 years.
New York has never had a
really big drag community, but
the South has always had that.
And its not like he would
change the show to appeal to
broader demographics. No,
RuPaul says with a laugh, we
are drag queens we dont try
to appeal to anybody. We do our
thing thats what makes our
show fascinating; we dance to
the beat of a different drummer.
We dont try to fit into anything.
LOGO TV
Thats not what we do.
It doesnt hurt, of course, to
have music star and cultural
icon Lady Gaga on the season
premiere. She wrote to me
years ago wanting to be a judge
on the show, RuPaul says.
She got her start in nightclubs
in the Village in New York and
this is her tribe. It took this
long for us to coordinate our
schedules so it could work out.
And thats true of all of our
judges: The most difficult part
of our show is coordinating
schedules for our judges.
TAKING A STAND
Drag Race for which
hes just won the Emmy Award
for outstanding reality-show
host is already working on
its next season. And RuPaul
himself, who in January mar-
ried his longtime partner
Georges LeBar, remains busy
with numerous guest spots,
most recently on CBS Two
Broke Girls and in the Netflix
comedy series Girlboss,
premiering next month. His
11th studio album drops today
titled, as if anyone doubts
his willingness to take a stand
American.
Its really about reclaiming
the American creed, he says,
which is life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. Actually,
reclaiming it, because its been
hijacked by a used-car sales-
man.
newsday.
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