Drag Race star Alaska on drag bans: ‘We’ve fought worse monsters than you, honey’
Exclusive: "Let's focus on bigger issues," says the drag icon, as she talks being snubbed from All Stars and her new docuseries Drag Queen of the Year
By Dale Fox
RuPaul’s Drag Race superstar Alaska has commented on the horrendous rise of drag bans across the US, warning: “Don’t come for our community.”
The American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ bills, many of which outlaw drag performances to minors in states such as Arizona and South Carolina.
In an exclusive interview, All Stars 2 winner Alaska tells Attitude: “I’m not scared for drag queens; I’m scared for Republicans. We’ve fought way worse monsters than you for years, honey.”
“Healthcare is a complete disaster” – Alaska
Speaking to Attitude to promote her new show Behind the Drag Queen of the Year Pageant Competition Award Contest Competition, the fan favourite added: “Let’s focus on bigger issues. I think [average Americans] are going to be concerned about climate change or the end of the world.
“Healthcare is a complete disaster – like these are things that actually that government could be really helpful in fixing.”
Alaska also spoke about not being invited to compete in season 7 of All Stars, featuring all past winners.
“I was very sad and pissed when it first happened. I was like, ‘How come I don’t get to go to the ball?’
“But then watching it, I was like, there’s no way I could compete with these women. But now? I’m ready to go. Let’s do it.”
The multi-talented performer has a show of her own in the meantime. The docuseries follows Alaska and creative partner Lola LeCroix as they host their own drag pageant.
“It’s not just a normal pageant; it’s a cool pageant,” she explains. That’s all we need to hear – sold.
The annual Drag Queen of the Year pageant began in 2019, with last year’s featured in the new TV series.
“The purpose of doing [the docuseries] was to give a platform to really amazing drag artists. We get to sort of relive the drama and the craziness and everything that went wrong about last year’s pageant. But we also get to dive deeper and learn more about the contestants and the artists.”
Asked whether she’s trying to replace RuPaul, Alaska tells us: “I don’t think anyone can replace RuPaul. She makes doing that job look so easy.”
Drag Queen of the Year is available to stream now in the UK on Froot TV.