‘Drag Racing’ Star Jinx Monsoon Criticizes Wave of Anti-Drag Racing Laws

RuPaul’s Drag Racing star Jinx Musson doubled down on her condemnation of Republican legislation to limit drag performances in an interview that aired Friday on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Rule.

“I want to say to the people who are trying to oppress my community right now, look at what happens every time you try to oppress a community in America,” said Monsoon Rule. “You tried to oppress women, women got the right to vote. You tried to oppress people of color, we can’t take that anymore.”

She added: “We don’t agree that some citizens should just sit on the sidelines and be the outcasts of our society because that’s not what this country was supposedly based on.”

Legislators in at least 16 states have proposed legislation this year that would restrict drag performances, according to an NBC News analysis. Most of the bills would ban performances in the presence of minors and fine repeat violators thousands of dollars. Some would ban this art form publicly and send repeat offenders to prison.

This month, Tennessee became the first state to pass such a law, banning “adult cabaret entertainment” in public places or places where minors can watch them. Performers who break the law more than once can be charged with a felony and sent to prison for up to six years.

Proponents argue that these measures are necessary to protect children from inappropriate entertainment.

Critics like Monsoon say these bills unfairly target the arts because of its deep ties to the LGBT community.

Monsoon, who currently plays Matron “Mama” Morton on Broadway’s Chicago, won the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. She suggested that the recent wave of drug laws is a response to the “fear” of changing gender norms in America.

“We’ve been taught to believe that there’s a ‘right’ way and a ‘wrong’ way to do things, and that there’s a ‘natural’ way and an ‘unnatural’ way to do things,” she said. if you followed the rules all your life, and then you were told that these rules do not really exist.

She added: “We should say that whatever works for you is naturally normal and right.”

Musson, who self-identifies as a non-binary person and uses the pronouns they/them when not in clothes, also gave a controversial speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference this month, where the speaker said “transgenderism must be completely eradicated from public life.” speaker’s note not really what scared her the most.

“What scares me more is the people who applauded it,” she said.

When Roulet asked what she wanted to say to LGBT people who are frightened by the current political climate, Musson advised them to move to areas of the country where they could “find their community.”

“There are places where it is safe to be gay, transvestite or transgender at any age, and there are places in this country where it is not,” Monsun said. “I mean, they are still arguing about whether we deserve to exist in certain parts of our country.”

“We need you to be with us to keep fighting for our freedoms and equality,” she continued. “And if you have to move to a larger metropolis before the rest of the country catches up to you, you know, do your best to keep yourself safe and find your community so you can live your life truthfully and without apologies.”