GAY TIMES Magazine

24 March 2023

The current attack we are witnessing on the drag performers that have existed in our community for centuries is unprecedented. It’s being fuelled by a right-wing agenda we’ve seen play out again and again that’s frankly getting very boring. But, boring as it may be, it’s proving to, once again, be incredibly dangerous. In the US we’ve already seen a ban on drag being introduced in Tennessee, with other states proposing similar legislation. Protests outside drag story time events are getting more violent. And the rhetoric on social media is increasingly more volatile. In the UK, 62% of respondents to a recent survey said they wouldn’t support a ban on drag like we’re witnessing in Tennessee, which is a relief (though we’d like that number to be higher if we're being honest). But do we trust right-wing MPs to not attempt to turn it into a wedge issue to distract from their own failings in the coming months and years? Absolutely not. It’s in these trying times that people like Sasha Colby are a radiating beacon of joy. Covering this month’s issue of GAY TIMES Magazine, Sasha is currently storming her way through the 15th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race with effortless grace, burning up the main stage with power and poise. Undoubtedly a trailblazer, she’s living proof that being both trans and a drag performer can be a beautiful existence. “My existence is really messing up their whole spiel,” she tells us. “It’s wild because when I’m looking at that [Jon Stewart] clip, you can tell the other guy doesn’t even believe it. They’re worried about us controlling or ‘turning’ children when that’s what they do with gay conversion [therapy].” Sasha adds: “They’re threatened and blaming us and the drag community for confusing people, which is exactly what they do.”