Upcoming Drag Race UK contestant Victoria Scone has defended her place on the hit reality show show, after being revealed as the first cisgender woman to ever compete on it.
Last week, Victoria was announced as one of 12 queens revealed for the line-up of the third season of Drag Race UK, which returns to our screens next month.
While many fans applauded the herstory-making move to welcome a cisgender woman onto the Drag Race stage, others have regrettably taken issue with the casting decision.
Victoria has now taken these critics head-on in a string of posts shared on her Twitter page over the weekend.
“Some need to understand that as a cis woman doing drag presenting as a woman it is still a fuck you to society,” she wrote.
“I embody every gender stereotype that’s ever been instilled on me (as a woman) by society. I heighten it, I laugh at it, and then take a big queer shit on it.”
She continued: “I am not at an advantage to perform with my body. If I wore a little skimpy dress and called it a day (as many of my AMAB drag queen pals do) I’d look like a wrapped lamb joint in the meat [aisle] at Morrisons.
“I corset, I pad, I use face tape, I paint like a birthday clown, I am even in the possession of a breast plate but guess what, I’m too god damn fat for it to fit over my delicate advantaged lady shoulders. Don’t even get me started on performing/touring on your period.
“The very reason I wear such exaggerated makeup is because I was terrified of being ridiculed as a woman starting in drag. I wanted to heighten my appearance as much as humanly possible.
“IF I didn’t do any of those things, my drag would still be valid. But I am simply debunking that logic with my own drag. Because drag is not just about trying to look like a ‘woman’ because women do not look like one thing. We come in many many beautiful forms.”
“Again, I’m not surprised that some have this opinion,” she added. “It’s clear the only form of drag some have been exposed to is Drag Race. Why would you think any other way?”
Although Victoria is Drag Race’s first cisgender woman, many trans women have competed over the years, including Jiggly Caliente and Kylie Sonqiue Love, who both took part in the current All Stars edition of the US show.
Victoria is one of 12 queens on the new UK line-up, which also includes Veronica Green, who was forced to bow out of season two of Drag Race UK early when she contracted Covid-19.
When the line-up was first announced last week, many voiced their disappointment at the lack of diversity among the competitors.
In a statement issued to HuffPost UK on this matter, a BBC spokesperson said: “Celebrating diversity is at the heart of Drag Race UK, and we welcome queens from all backgrounds.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK returns to BBC Three in September.