Trixie Mattel has spoken out against politicians trying to use drag as a “scapegoat” to get votes by creating false narratives about performers.
The star, who won season three of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars’, was referencing anti-drag bills, which have been on the rise in the US this year.
Many of these laws seek to stop drag artists working either in public spaces or with young people, though often do not explicitly mention the art of drag and instead reference “male and female impersonators” or something to that effect.
Speaking to Good Morning America on the red carpet of the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in a clip which has since gone viral online, Trixie said: “So this artform I’ve devoted my life to is being used as a scapegoat for people to get votes.
“This is what they always do, they just take some random cause that they know people will vote for based on nothing, but there’s no way to combat it because you can’t even come at it with data because this isn’t a group of people who care about data.”
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The star, who won season three of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars’, further explained that she looked for information on the number of drag queens linked with paedophilia as Republicans have been attempting to associate the ‘groomer’ slur with LGBTQ+ people.
“Zero. There’s no drag queens being arrested for sexual assault of children, that doesn’t happen,” Trixie said. “Do you know where that happens? The church, okay? That’s where. This whole country mollycoddles Christians and I’m fucking tired of it, tired of it!”
When the interviewer told Trixie that she seemed “passionate” about this issue, she responded: “I’m very passionate about it. Do we have separation of church and state or not? Because, if you can be a religious figurehead and just make your religion the law, then we don’t. We don’t. It’s so crazy.”
More than 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been signed into law this year alone
Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has been on the rise across several Republican-controlled states in the US, with the Human Rights Campaign tracking more than 500 such bills by the end of May.
The total number passed this year stood at 76 as of 7 June, a number higher than any year on record – prompting the organisation to declare a “state of emergency” for LGBTQ+ people in the US.
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“We have officially declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States for the first time following an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses this year,” the Human Rights Campaign announced on 6 June.
“More than 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been signed into law this year alone, more than doubling last year’s number, which was previously the worst year on record.”
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