November's queer profile: RuPaul

RuPaul is one of, if not the most famous drag queens in the world. He has had an incredibly successful and diverse career in acting, producing, and singing with the likes of Elton John. However, life has not always been easy for this drag legend, RuPaul grew up in a broken home with his parents divorcing when he was only 7 years of age. In his memoir "The House of Hidden Meaning" RuPaul recounts a story to the reader in which his mother had poured gasoline all over his father's car in the driveway after discovering that he had been unfaithful. When he was 15 he and his sister moved to Atlanta where he studied at the Northside School for the Performing Arts.

RuPaul's first experience of fame arguably came in the 1990s with the release of his hit song "Supermodel". The song was a huge hit in the dance scene becoming number 1 in the dance charts. It did well in the UK pop charts too reaching number 39. RuPaul never really fell out of the public eye but he made a resurgence in 2009 with his now iconic show RuPaul's Drag Race. At the time the show was released onto Logo which is a TV channel targeted towards queer audiences. The show has had critical acclaim since debuting in 2009 winning 27 Primetime Emmy awards, 6 MTV movie and TV awards, and 1 Television Critics Association award and many more. The show has reached far more than its originally intended audience but it is first and foremost a queer show for queer people helping the community to see themselves on live TV.

RuPaul has had without a doubt one of the largest impacts on the queer community in recent memory bringing drag into the mainstream. However, he might disagree with that statement saying to Vulture that Drag Race and Drag in general "will never be mainstream. It’s the antithesis of the mainstream. And what you’re witnessing with drag is the most mainstream it will get. But it will never be mainstream because it’s something completely opposed to fitting in". So what else is RuPaul getting up to? Well like most celebrities RuPaul is now on TikTok. His content is a rather interesting mix of everything from popular TikTok trends to answering questions from his fans but perhaps most shockingly for some, he has a few TikTok's where he teaches the viewer how to jump-start a car or change their tire. These two skills are very stereotypically what a father might teach his son and perhaps RuPaul is trying to impart on the viewer skills he wishes he had been taught by his father which I think really speaks to the effect that relationship had on RuPaul.

RuPaul has been and will continue to be one of the most influential people in the queer community destigmatising the world of drag and helping to create a safer world for our community through his unrelenting commitment to being himself no matter what.