The Reluctant Receptionist

i didn’t expect to get caught up in logo’s “rupaul’s drag race” the way that i did. i’m not really one for reality television. sure, i’ve watched literally every episode of “project runway” and most episodes of “make me a supermodel” (sidenote: perry from season one has moved to our neighborhood, and i’ve now seen him three times outside my gym. i wish it was my true love from season one, ben the cop, but i’ll settle for perry. maybe he’ll start wearing tank tops when it gets warm.), but i’m generally suspect of reality shows, the way that producers and editors choose who wins and choose who you’ll hate. but there was just something about drag race that totally resonated with me.

for one, rupaul herself resonated. i’ve always loved rupaul, not least because she forced herself into the mainstream when the mainstream was anything but gay friendly. i mean, the queen had a music video that actually got airplay. and this was before ellen, will and grace, and the backlash to prop 8. before matthew shepherd. i mean, she was a trailblazer. i’d be remiss if i failed to mention that she’s also hysterical. i have now started hollering “CAMEROOOON!” for no reason whatsoever. i was falling off the couch last night when they replayed her telling one of the queens, “there are still too many snakes on this motherfuckin’ plane,” referring to her “tuck.” when the girls do their runway walks, she reads them all in the style of a caller of the old new yew york/harlem drag balls, and it’s easily my favorite part of the program.

so many people have never even heard of these balls, and it’s such an important part of queer history. rupaul will holler “house of labeija!” “extravaganza!” she’s referencing all of these old-school drag houses, some of which are defunct because all of their members died of aids (or were the victims of hate crimes) a decade ago. one of the challenges for the girls was to walk representing “executive realness,” which is one of the exact categories from the old balls in the 80s. and when they did, she read them from her seat up front, just like they would have been read 20 years ago.

so more than anything else, for me, rupaul’s drag race helped bring back to light something that we’d almost forgotten. cory has been researching these drag houses because he, like a lot of people watching the drag race, had never heard about them. cory’s drag house? the house of slots, because he, penny slots, is the mother. my drag name in the house of slots? what else: lucy slots.

CAMEROON!