This ‘Drag Race’ look celebrates trans bodies, and conservatives can’t handle it

RuPaul’s Drag Race all-star Gottmik made waves when she first competed in 2021 as the first transgender man to compete on the show. Three years later, she’s still “crashing the cis-tem,” and conservatives still can’t figure her out.

On Friday, Gottmik took home her second challenge win on Drag Race All Stars. After hilariously impersonating a dog in the Snatch Game (long story), she hit the runway in a look inspired by her top surgery.

For the category “A Tail And Two Titties,” Gottmik went in an unexpected direction and carried two breasts in a biohazard bag, while two fake arms took scalpels to her chest, leaving behind two rhinestoned red scars. For Drag Race fans, the look was immediately an all-time great — but when the look left the queer community, conservatives didn’t know what to make of it.

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Right-wing account Libs of TikTok posted a clip of the runway, writing, “RuPaul’s d*ag race featured a d*ag queen acting out undergoing a double mastectomy surgery.” (Yes, it censored the word drag as if it were a swear.) “This is what RuPaul and d*ag promotes. Absolutely disgusting.”

Other conservative figures chimed in too. Jordan Peterson reposted the runway, warning folks to “watch out for that plus” in LGBTQ+, while Megyn Kelly said the “whole ideology is sick & obviously misogynistic.”

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Unfortunately, they’ve found that Gottmik is nigh impossible to misgender. Using she/her pronouns for Gottmik is validating of her drag persona, while using he/him pronouns reflects Gottmik’s out-of-drag identity. That means conservatives’ typical refrain of “That’s a man” is not only accurate, but gender-affirming — a fact Gottmik thanked them for on social media.

“No one affirms my gender like the terf community hating my art!” she wrote on X, later adding, “Talk about crashing the cis tem! lmaooo 😂🏳️‍⚧️🔥💪🏼.”

In fact, Libs of TikTok’s post originally referred to Gottmik as a “grown man dressed up as a woman,” which the account quickly edited when it realized that yes, Gottmik is a grown man.  (The original wording is still visible in the post’s version history.)

Meanwhile, Gottmik herself took to Instagram to share what the look means to her.

“This look is beyond just me. It is a piece of art and fashion that represents something that I never thought I’d be vulnerable enough to talk about let alone wear on the runway of @rupaulsdragrace,” she wrote. “This look represents the pain and suffering I went through while all at the [same] time experiencing complete trans queer liberation in a way that I hope everyone seeing this will feel one day. I found my peace within the fashion drag artistry space and I hope everyone finds theirs in one way or another.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars airs Fridays on Paramount+.

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