RuPaul: ‘Empress of Drag’

Making

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since November, dozens of states have introduced legislation that could criminalize drag performances, including Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina. This week on Making, we look at the life of an iconic Black TV creator whose art is at the center of this new political hot button. RuPaul Andre Charles brought drag to America’s main stage and opened doors for queerness. But before his Emmys and Tonys, he was a go-go dancing young person determined to be a star. Host Brandon Pope chats with RuPaul’s close friends, collaborators and mentees, including drag queen Lady Bunny, DJ and songwriter Larry Tee, drag historian Simon Doonan and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Shea Coulee. This episode was originally published on Nov 17, 2022. This season of Making covers a different, iconic figure every episode. Subscribe and don’t miss an episode.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, making listeners, recently we've been telling the stories of iconic black TV and film creators,
0:05.6	and there's one trailblazing TV personality whose story we dug into last year and whose art has
0:11.3	recently come under attack. Today we're diving back into making RuPaul. Since we ran this episode
0:17.2	in November, America's seen an outcry against drag performances. As of early June, more than a
0:23.5	dozen states have introduced legislation that could criminalize drag shows. Florida, North Carolina,
0:29.6	Texas, Tennessee, and more. RuPaul herself took to social media to denounce these anti-drag bands.
0:36.8	We know that bullies are incompetent at solving real issues. They look for easy target so they can
0:43.9	give the impression of being effective. They think our love, our light, our laughter, and our joy
0:50.2	are signs of weakness, but they're wrong because that is our strength. Drag queens are the marines
0:57.7	of the queer movement. So in this tense moment, we're going to offer a bit of drag history and
1:03.6	revisit the origin story of an LGBTQ plus icon. So thank you for listening. Note this episode has
1:12.0	some unbleep swearing. I mean, who would have thought that a six foot four black drag queen with
1:18.8	blonde hair would be an international star? Well, I would have thought that and that's what happened.
1:25.2	Listen up, honey. From WBZ Chicago. This is Making. I'm Brandon Pope. Today. Wake up,
1:38.0	Pearl. Good luck. And don't fuck it up. I'll be the judge of that.
1:45.0	It's Making RuPaul. He's arguably the most famous drag queen in the world with Emmys,
1:53.2	Tonys, and 14 studio albums. RuPaul's work is globally acclaimed. But his legacy reaches far
2:00.3	beyond Hollywood awards. He's opened doors for the queer community and brought drag to a whole
2:05.7	new stage. You have changed the world of drag forever. Of course, Ru. Because she's the mother of
2:12.6	everything. But the influential queer show that has ever existed. What does it take to change a
2:19.8	culture? What were the making years for RuPaul Andre Charles? A drag queen. A drag queen. I am the queen of drag.
2:40.7	From WBZ Chicago, I'm Brandon Pope and this is Making RuPaul. Over her long career, RuPaul
	...

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