RuPaul, the host of VH1's RuPaul's
Drag Race, covers Entertainment Weekly's LGBT Pride issue.
The world's most iconic drag queen, who
is making guest appearances on Netflix's Girlboss and Comedy
Central's Broad City, reflected on his career, which he said
had stalled in the late 80s after he had become a fixture in New York
City's underground scene.
“Everything came to a screeching halt
when I turned 28. I moved out to LA because nothing was happening for
me. I was sleeping on my baby sister’s couch, not a penny to my
name,” RuPaul said.
“I thought, ‘Could it be that this
is not meant for me?’ It was this horrible existence. And one day,
my friend Larry Tee called me and said, ‘Ru, what the fuck are you
doing? You are a star. Get your ass back to New York and get your
shit together.’ And I did. I got a plane ticket and decided I was
going to shave these legs, I’m going to shave my chest, I’m going
to put some fucking titties in – rolled-up socks, not implants –
and I’m going to go back to New York and give those bitches exactly
what they want from me.”
RuPaul went on to call on LGBT people
to become more politically active.
“This year in the LGBT community I
hope to see young people get more involved politically and become
more active and more aware,” he said. “I want to see young LGBT
people – not just young, all LGBT people – get involved
politically because these freedoms that we have witnessed in the past
20 years could slip away in a heartbeat.”