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Identity

Bob the Drag Queen Tells Us How to Fight Trump

Drag has always functioned as activism. One of the drag world's most beloved queens tells us how they're harnessing it.

Bob in a still from "Shady Politics: Vote Bob the Drag Queen"

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Where were you on Election Night 2016? Bob the Drag Queen was at Manhattan's Ace Hotel with fellow queen Tora Hymen, sitting next to a queen dressed as Hillary Clinton; directly behind him sat a queen dressed like Donald Trump. "When I walked in the door, Hillary was up by two or three electoral votes," he recalled while milling about his Washington Heights apartment.

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"Then the projections came in, and the mood of the room changed," recounted the 30-year-old professional drag queen, comedian, and winner of the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. "I looked behind me, and the Trump queen got the fuck out of there. People were drinking and looking at someone to be angry at, and you couldn't find him anywhere. I was sitting there looking at the queen dressed at Hillary, and I thought, What the hell. This was supposed to be a fun night—a victory for all people. Instead, it ended up being this weird, sad evening."

Throughout history, drag has always functioned as activism, from the Compton's Cafeteria riots to Stonewall to the struggle for marriage equality in Ireland today. With the election of Trump last week, that activism becomes more vital than ever as our incoming administration threatens to curtail the rights of the LGBTQ community writ large. Camp humor is often a subtly subversive political tool; as a drag icon to millions, Bob the Drag Queen would know. We sat down to discuss identity politics and the future of his art form in our new America.

VICE: The more I think about Trump's promise to build a wall along Mexico's border, the more I think it's mostly because he just loves to build things.
Bob the Drag Queen: "I have property here, I have property there." That's his thing. "I have property in Tampa. I have property in Chicago."

What's stopping him from building a hotel along this theoretical wall?
Exactly. He's like, "I own a small part of Chicago. I own a large chunk of New York City. I own a small chunk of Miami." It's crazy that the middle class voted Trump in, because his plan is so bad for the middle class. During the debates, they asked him what his plan for the middle class was, and he replied, "We're gonna build that wall! Mexicans, Muslims, rapists, extremist Islam, Crooked Hillary, drain the swamp! Bill Clinton raped four women, and they're all here today!"

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Before this election, it was mostly non-whites who understood just how dangerous white people are for this country. It seems like, after the election, white people at-large are finally apprehending that concept.
White people have a history of being very dangerous for people who aren't white, and it's really rearing its ugly head now. Finally, white people are seeing how dangerous they can be. Even though it's 2016 and we've had our first black president, white people are the overwhelming majority, and they have practically all the power. All of it. White people rule everything. So what is any minority supposed to do to defend against that? There's nothing we can do.

There's a saying: Sometimes the balance is so unequal for so long that equality starts to feel like oppression. You've had your share of the cake for so long, and now that everyone's getting cut the same share of the cake, all you can say to yourself is, "I used to have a much bigger slice of cake than this. What happened to all of my cake?"

Some have said that this election represents the last grasp of white supremacy. Do you think that's true?
White supremacy comes around every 40 or 50 years, but it never looks like white supremacy—a new group arrives, they give it a new name, and then in the history books that name will end up just as bad as the Ku Klux Klan.

There's been a few Trump supporters out there claiming that he's "LGBTQ-friendly." Obviously, that's bullshit.
All of his actions are anti-LGBTQ. I don't think he has any problems with LGBTQ people, but he's not an ally. Just because you don't want us to die doesn't mean you support us. You don't just get to say you're an ally to the queer community. You have to do something.

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The term "ally" has become complicated, because it gives people from majority groups an excuse to not do more than simply state that they're allies. What could somebody who wants to consider themselves an "ally" do for the LGTBQ community post-Trump?
It starts with research. Research is always the first thing you could do. If you want to find out what's happening and how things are for marginalized people, then you can talk to marginalized people. Wouldn't it be interesting to ask how a Muslim feels in our country right now? That's a good place to start. I had a lot of Mexican, trans, and queer friends who were crying on election night because they were that scared of our commander-in-chief. That's not OK. This is a real thing. People are genuinely worried, nervous, and afraid, and they're taking to the streets because they're so angry.


Watch "Meet London's Female Drag Queens":


How did you feel?
At first, I felt disappointed in our democracy. But I don't think anyone who voted for Trump is a bad person. I think they responded out of fear because of the way the right was making it seem like they had to be afraid. [Trump] made them afraid of everyone except him.

Where do you see comedy and drag going in America's Trump era? What changes? What doesn't?
I think that hardship always breeds art, including comedy. [The election's] not going to change the fact that I'm funny [Laughs], and I can make jokes about sad things, too. My comedy is also social commentary—I'm not above a dick joke, either—but if anything, this fuels my art. I'm not worried about art being hurt. I'm worried about actual policy.

There have been reports of trans youth committing suicide after the election, as well as a surge in calls to hotlines specifically set up to provide support for trans youth.
Trans people, unfortunately, have always been the last of the litter to get whatever they're getting. The conservatives can't, for some reason, acknowledge trans lives as genuine and real lives. [Using an old man voice] "Goddamnit, my money shouldn't go to puttin' some fuckin' titties on a man who wants to be some fuckin' woman!" But it's actually a mental health issue. It's crazy that we don't mind fixing a cleft lip, but if someone's born in a way that physically makes it hard for them to live their lives…

What would you tell trans youth about the future?
There are allies—real allies—who will always fight for you. But fight for yourself. Don't sit around waiting for someone to make your life better—make your own life better. This is a chance for you to stand up for yourself. As the kids say, "Stay woke." Not to sound too hip, but—stay woke, motherfuckers!

Follow Larry Fitzmaurice on Twitter.