Peppermint finally speaks out on RuPaul’s controversial trans comments

The first openly trans woman on RuPaul’s Drag Race has broken her silence on RuPaul’s comments about trans queens.

Peppermint penned an op-ed in Billboard saying she disagreed with RuPaul’s comments.

‘Doing Drag Race was one of the best moments of my life. RuPaul kicked open so many doors for queer and gender non-conforming folks and is an absolute trailblazer in the world of drag,’ Peppermint wrote.

‘But recently, Ru made statements I disagree with.’

Earlier this week drag legend, RuPaul, created a wave of controversy after telling The Guardian that contestants who had undergone gender confirming surgery would not be allowed on his VH1 reality show.

The backlash to his comments was swift and he issued a statement a few hours later on Twitter, but stopped short of apologizing. He also incorrectly used a flag for trains rather than the trans pride flag in one of his tweets.

No one defines your womanhood

Peppermint said she has learned a lot since she started transitioning in 2012.

One of the most important lessons was that no one has the ability to define your gender identity or ‘transness’.

‘I also learned women should not be defined by what surgeries they have or haven’t had,’ she wrote.

‘The most important takeaway is that ones transition, the beginning, the middle, and end, is entirely personal and cannot be categorized or measured in the context of being blessed by someone else’s validation or approval.’

Peppermint did agree with RuPaul about one thing, that ‘drag is a big F-You to male dominated culture’.

‘Trans women and women, have always been directly and indirectly contributing to the art form of drag,’ Peppermint wrote.

‘My hope is that together, we can uplift all forms of drag, both on TV, and in the real world.

‘Gay men do not own the idea of gender performance.

‘Unfortunately it won’t be the first or last time we will hear a woman can’t do something a man can. I’m out to change that.’

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