RuPaul drew a firestorm of controversy last week when he responded to criticism over his supposed use of transphobic language and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and told his transgender critics “Don’t you dare tell me what I can do or what I can’t — say or can’t do.” Now, Logo TV has officially responded to RuPaul’s statement and it’s clear that they’re not in agreement with their star drag icon.
The latest bout of drama all began last week when RuPaul discussed the months-long controversy over his use of terms like “tranny” and “she-mail” on his show with interview Marc Maron and strongly defended his freedom of speech.
“Does the word ‘tranny’ bother me? No. I love the word ‘tranny,” RuPaul said. No, it is not the transsexual community. These are fringe people who are looking for story lines to strengthen their identity as victims. That is what we’re dealing with. It’s not the trans community, because most people who are trans have been through hell and high water and they know — they’ve looked behind the curtain at Oz and went, ‘Oh, this is all a f—ing joke. But, some people haven’t … You know, if your idea of happiness has to do with someone else changing what they say, what they do, you are in for a f—ing hard-a– road.”
“But don’t you dare tell me what I can do or say. It’s just words. Yeah, words do hurt … You know what? … You need to get stronger. You really do, because you know what, if you think, if you’re upset by something I said, you have bigger problems than you think,” he added.
After RuPaul’s words hit the headlines, Logo TV, who previously chose to edit out transphobic language from this season of “Drag Race,” sent out a statement to BuzzFeed and distanced themselves from the “Drag Race” host’s ideas about transphobic language.
“These comments did not come from Logo. We are committed to supporting the entire LGBT community and will not feature any anti-trans rhetoric on our shows,” read the statement.
But the story doesn’t end there. Shortly after Logo TV released their statement to BuzzFeed, RuPaul responded and let the world know how he really feels about the network’s statement. Check out RuPaul’s bold response after the cut. – nicholas robinson
