In a new video, RuPaul encourages fans to make sure they register to vote, and then actually show up on November 6 to vote in this year’s midterm elections.
“Do you love RuPaul’s Drag Race?” asks Mama Ru. “Well, we love giving it to you. And here’s how you can give back: Go to vote.gov to find out how you can register. And then, on November 6, you better vote, sis!”
Now #SissyThatVote! 🏳️🌈 There’s no denying that change is sorely needed and there’s no denying where it starts–with you. 👋 Find out how to make sure you’re registered to vote by going to https://t.co/mkEUbVC6NS and we’ll see you at the polls on Nov. 6th, kitty girls! 💅 @RuPaulpic.twitter.com/eYoQWHLUON
RuPaul accepts the Emmy Award for “Best Reality Competition Series”
It was a great night for LGBT-themed entertainment last night at the 2018 Primetime Emmy Awards as RuPaul’s Drag Race and the FX series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story took home top honors in their categories.
Making Emmy Award history, RuPaul’s Drag Race won for “Best Reality Competition Series” and RuPaul took home his own Emmy for “Best Host of a Reality Competition Series.” This is the first time one series has won both awards in the reality category in the same year.
Accepting the honor for the series, RuPaul thanked all those who have supported and contributed to the success of the show, as well as, “all of the dreamers out there.”
The ‘Supermodel of the World’ closed his thanks by reminding folks, “If you can’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else.”
In the “Best Limited Series” category, The Assassination of Gianni Versace garnered three Emmys last night, adding to the two won last week at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
In addition to the “Best Limited Series” trophy, Darren Criss, who turned in a star turn as gay serial killer Andrew Cunanan, won for “Best Actor in a Limited Series.”
And uber-gay creator and producer of the show, Ryan Murphy, won the award for Directing for the Gianni Versace episode, “The Man Who Would Be Vogue.”
In accepting the award for “Best Limited Series,” he dedicated the moment to the LGBTQ community.
Ryan Murphy dedicates his #Emmys win to the LGBTQ community. “We dedicate this award to awareness. To stricter hate crime laws.” (via THR) pic.twitter.com/Wh8Svi2GCT
• After the owner of West Hollywood’s The Abbey asked his go-go dancers to take a pay cut, go-go guy Teddy Bear (above) raised his voice, and got fired & banned from the gay bar.
• The online fundraising platform ActBlue raised $100 million in August for Democratic candidates, marking their biggest fundraising month since they launched in 2004. The liberals are NOT losing any steam before the 2018 midterm elections, kids.
• Check out out Olympian Adam Rippon on the set of Will & Grace along with fellow-guest star Minnie Driver! Squee!!!
• The California legislature has passed a resolution condemning intersex surgeries on children in an attempt to halt procedures that would try and ‘normalize’ children’s sexual characteristics.
• Openly bisexual Halsey (one of my favorite out recording artists) clapped back at anti-LGBT folks who come to her concerts saying, “People bring anti-LGBT religious propaganda to my concerts alot and it’s like, I feel like I’ve done enough good in the world that God’s gonna forgive me for eating some p*ssy.” #LOL
• Rupaul has announced a new Christmas album coming this fall! This will be Ru’s 3rd collection of holiday songs following 1997’s Ho Ho Ho and 2015’s Slay Belles.
RuPaul endorses Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for governor of California
RuPaul appears in a PSA for California’s upcoming primary on June 5 urging folks to not only vote, but vote for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for governor.
“Today, I want to tell the world that I’ll be casting my vote for you, Gavin,” says the Super Model of the World.
Newsom gained headlines in the LGBTQ world when he began issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples back in 2004 (before same-sex marriage was the law of the land) during his tenure as mayor of San Francisco.
Many, including Mama Ru, credit Newsom’s actions with jump starting the marriage equality movement.
So there you have it, Californians. As Ru says, “If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain. So – YOU BETTA VOTE!”
As if perpetually-in-motion RuPaul didn’t have enough on his plate, now we get word that the two-time Emmy Award winner will soon star in a new series for Netflix titled, AJ and the Queen.
Ru will team-up with Michael Patrick King (2 Broke Girls, Sex and the City) for the new original comedy series.
According to Deadline, King and RuPaul will pen the new sitcom which will feature RuPaul as “Ruby Red, a bigger-than-life but down-on-her-luck drag queen who travels across America from club to club in a rundown 1990’s R/V with her unlikely sidekick AJ, a recently orphaned, tough-talking, scrappy 11-year-old stowaway.”
So two misfits – one tall, one small – sashaying across the country, spreading a message of acceptance and love.
Kind of like BJ and the Bear meets Touched by an Angel just with a lot more sass.
Oh, and apparently Mama Ru will perform a killer musical number in all the drag clubs visited.
RuPaul recently got into a kerfuffle with the transgender community when he told The Guardian he would “probably not” include a transgender woman who had fully transitioned to compete on the Emmy Award-winning reality show.
“You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body. It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing,” he said. “We’ve had some girls who’ve had some injections in the face and maybe a little bit in the butt here and there, but they haven’t transitioned.”
As the trans community took exception with the remarks, Ru seemed to pour gasoline on the fire with a tweet that seemed to compare transgender drag competitors to doping athletes.
You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics. pic.twitter.com/HkJjzXzUGm
Alexandra Billings, a transgender star of Amazon’s Transparent, stepped into the fray with a message to Ru via Instagram which read, “Dear RuPaul, You did not invent drag. We did.”
I’m not an expert on drag, so I do have a question:
My understanding is drag is about illusion. Separately, transgender women are women. So, where would the illusion be in trans women competing in a drag competition?
Ru issued a Twitter apology today that didn’t include the word “sorry,” and folks were not calmed by the choice of words.
Each morning I pray to set aside everything I THINK I know, so I may have an open mind and a new experience. I understand and regret the hurt I have caused. The trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement. You are my teachers. pic.twitter.com/80Qi2halN2
In the 10 years we’ve been casting Drag Race, the only thing we’ve ever screened for is charisma uniqueness nerve and talent. And that will never change. pic.twitter.com/0jsyt6MRvO
so @Rupaul point blank lied in that apology. Casting ALWAYS asked about hormones transitioning etc tellin girls to get off mones/delay transitions til after taping. Ask the dolls. She’s trying to save face and even Mathu’s touch couldn’t save it now
• Out Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy (above) welcomed his bf Matthew Wilkas to PyeongChang just in time to watch Kenworthy in the slopestyle competition.
• UK tabloid The Daily Mailis losing advertisers after a columnist for the rag wrote a homophobic piece criticizing Tom Daley & Dustin Lance Black for sharing an ultrasound image of their soon-to-arrive baby.
• RuPaul will join Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin for the newly-announced 5th season of Grace And Frankie set to be released by Netflix in 2019.
• OUT has announced it annual “100 Most Eligible Bachelors” for 2018. Since I’m married I didn’t make the list, but did you? Or your favorite out athlete/celeb/artist?
• Since 2010, the Olympics have featured Pride Houses where LGBTQ athletes and fans could relax in a safe space. But with no money budgeted for this at PyeongChang, Canada stepped up allowing Canada House to do double duty as Pride House.
• How about one more pic of our awesome Team USA competing at the Winter Olympics? Here’s woofy Carlos Valdes – a member of our four-man bobsled team who competes next Saturday.
It’s been a busy morning, and I’ve been seeing lots of reports about the So You Think You Can Dance All-Stars and Top 8 dancers killing it last night with a piece by choreographer Mark Kanemura set to “Call Me Mother” from RuPaul’s recent album, American.
And everyone was right – pretty epic.
No politics here, just way tight dancing and ography. #slayy
In this week’s LGBT news on The Randy Report podcast:
• Virginia could elect the country’s first out transgender legislator this fall
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs “license to discriminate” bill into law
• Military chiefs have asked for a six month delay in recruiting transgender recruits
• Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS resign saying that President Trump “doesn’t care about HIV”
• Broadway Bares takes this year’s edition of the scintillating charity event back to college raising over $1.5 million in one night
• And RuPaul gets to sashay his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report I’d like to invite all my readers to head over to iTunes and hit the Subscribe button on my page on iTunes, and then every time I upload a new podcast it will be sent directly to you for your listening ease 🙂
