Drag has exploded in mainstream popularity in recent years.

From hit shows like RuPaul's drag race,

May the best drag queen win.

To drag brunches and bingo.

We're ready?

Even story time with kids, led by kings and queens.

There are many ways to say I love you, just by being there when things are sad and scary.

But with that rise in popularity has come a surge in threats and even violence.

It's with a heavy heart, I have to tell you that we had a shooting at a local club this evening.

Will these attacks set back years of hard-won progress?

Not only for drag queens, but for the LGBTQ community?

I'm Gustav Ariano. You're listening to The Times, Essential News, from the LA Times.

It's Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023.

Today, how the growing appeal of drag became a symbol of progress for many in the LGBTQ community

and how a backlash against it might be a troubling moment.

Thank you for having me. to talk about all of this is my LA Times colleague, national correspondent Javed Khalim. Javid, welcome

the Times. Thank you for having me. So drags really gone mainstream in recent years. I still

remember when it was mostly underground and this wasn't that long ago. So how did it get so mainstream?

There's a lot of things, but it's really one thing also, which is one name, RuPaul.

Yeah.

So RuPaul is probably the world's most famous drag queen.

I mean, I remember when he came out in the Brady Bunch movie and everyone's like, oh, my God, that's so shocking.

...