A Quote by Jenna Wortham

When 'Drag Race' first began, it seemed like a fun window into an underground culture, but over the nine years it has aired, the show has evolved to reflect America's changing relationship to queer rights and acceptance.

Jenna Wortham

Quote Topics

Acceptance America Began Changing Culture Drag Evolved First Fun Like Nine Nine Years Over Queer Race Reflect Relationship Rights Seemed Show Underground Window Years

Quote Author

Jenna Wortham
American - Journalist
Born: 1981

Drag Race' was, like, my outlet and finally being able to see myself in television and that was through Manila Luzon, who was a 'Drag Race' contestant. Manila was the first Asian queer person that I ever saw on mainstream media and 'Drag Race' really did that for me.

Bretman Rock

'RuPaul's Drag Race' is a show about love, art, passion, acceptance, and the quest for finding America's next drag superstar. No show on the telly box has more grit than these queens.

Michelle Visage

Everyone who passes through 'Drag Race,' and especially the people who are able to have really big careers after the show, has a responsibility to the queer community to do a good job of representing queer people across the board to be kind and loving.

Sasha Velour

'Drag Race' doesn't claim to represent drag as a whole. 'Drag Race' is a reality show. If you see real drag shows, we just do drag and respect each other's art and who your real identity is - name, gender, hair color, anything.

Trixie Mattel

When I was about 10 years old, the 'Ricki Lake show' aired in Israel, and it was the first time I was exposed to American reality culture.

Netta Barzilai

I don't want to make a show about AA because it's a personal experience for anybody who is a part of that. My relationship with it has changed over the years, and I wanted the show to reflect that in a real way.

Will Arnett

Drag Race' is giving visibility to our community. It's on TV and you can see RuPaul, who is a black, queer, powerful figure who has run this empire for years, and I think that's an amazing thing.

Alaska

My first show was called 'I Know I've Been Changed' in '92. I tried to do this show for years and years. It kept failing over and over and over again. Every time I went out to do the show, nobody showed up. I was like, 'What is this about?'

Tyler Perry

The inspiration of my drag is the history of drag, the long tradition of drag queens being at the forefront of queer activism. That informs my drag style, and in a sense, that is the direction we need to go in the future.

Sasha Velour

I have watched every episode of 'RuPaul's Drag Race'... I know a bizarre amount of drag queens now. And it's weird because one of the guys that drives my tour bus in America drove the drag queen show before me, and I used to just sit there and hear all the stories so I could go tell my girlfriend because I knew what a big fan she was.

Jim Jefferies

Just in my experience as a drag queen, I've been able to connect with queer people around the world - and to see them connecting with each other over a shared love of drag!

Sasha Velour

First acting gig was playing a victim in 'America's Most Wanted.' The night the show aired, they caught the killer!

Zoe McLellan

I hope people realize that drag queens and queer people, we're not just archetypes and stereotypes. We're human beings with a lot to share. And a drag queen doesn't have to just be a clown, she can also be like a cooking TV personality or like a DJ, or a talk-show host. We should be able to infiltrate TV everywhere.

Jinkx Monsoon

'Red vs Blue' as a show has evolved dramatically. It looks an entirely different show to what we started with, but the format of the show has changed so much over the years, too.