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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13831885" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="willow-pill" source="Orion">Willow Pill</keyword> spoke to Insider about her "uncomfortable" reign and why she would "adore" to host "SNL."</li><li>The "<keyword id="12105628" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="rupauls-drag-race" source="Orion">RuPaul's Drag Race</keyword>" winner triumphed over British ballerina Lady Camden in the season 14 finale.</li></ul>"<keyword id="12105627" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="rupaul" source="Orion">RuPaul</keyword>'s <keyword id="12169861" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="drag-race" source="Orion">Drag Race</keyword>" season 14 winner Willow Pill spoke to Insider about staying grounded during her "uncomfortable" reign and what <keyword id="11898468" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tv" source="Orion">TV</keyword> show she'd love to appear in next. After lip-syncing for the crown against the British-born Lady Camden to Cher's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)," the 27-year-old Colorado queen emerged triumphantly. Speaking to Insider days after the finale, held earlier this month in Las Vegas, Pill said she was still processing her win."I'm not gonna lie, it has been difficult to have a moment and to sit down and be like, 'Oh my gosh, I just won "RuPaul's Drag Race,"'" she told Insider. "So hopefully, that will come soon because I'd really love to have a little bit of time to enjoy it and bask in the glory."Pill told <a href="https://ew.com/tv/rupauls-drag-race-season-14-winner-willow-pill-interview/">Entertainment Weekly</a> that it's easy to "lose yourself in all the...fame and celebrity" but later told Insider that she's confident she won't with the help of her "really amazing group of friends.""They definitely keep me grounded and keep me humble," she added. "Because it is easy to lose yourself with fame, you become very popular and everyone eats right out of your ass."Last year's winner, Symone, <a href="https://www.allure.com/story/symone-rupaul-drag-race-met-gala-2021-gold-moschino">attended the Met Gala</a>, <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2021/07/drag-races-symones-night-with-or-at-least-near-madonna.html">partied with Madonna</a>, and was <a href="https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/i-aint-stopping-anytime-soon-symone-talks-to-king-princess-about-her-imminent-world-domination">featured on the cover of Interview Magazine</a>. What ambitions does Pill have for her reign?<h2>Pill said she'd love to host 'Saturday Night Live' one day</h2>"I'm not quite sure totally yet," she said. "I'd love to get some time so I can kind of map out a little bit of what I want to do with my reign because I do want it to be special. But yeah, I want it to be kind of gross and chaotic. I want it to be even maybe a little bit uncomfortable."Pill revealed she would "adore" to host "SNL," adding that she appreciates "queens who...push the boundaries a little bit of what might be tolerated by the general public.""Every time I try to do that, it ends up being loved," she added, citing her iconic "spaghetti bath" performance where <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYhtAeFK8QO/">she lip-synced to Enya's 2000 hit song "Only Time"</a> while eating a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs before falling into a bathtub.After her drag sister, Yvie Oddly won season 11, Pill becomes part of the first drag family winners in the franchise's history. However, she has yet to be in touch with Oddly."I'm sure she's sent me a text. It's probably buried on my phone that I am rejecting right now," she said. "But no, I have not even talked to my mother."Pill said that going forward she's eager to center herself in her art."For the last year it's really been geared towards the 'Drag Race' audience, which is awesome and great, but also, you know, I need to do it for myself," she said.

'Drag Race' winner Willow Pill wants her reign to be 'a little bit uncomfortable'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Olivia Rodrigo and Gwen Stefani performed No Doubt's "Bathwater" at Coachella.</li><li>Rodrigo has long credited Stefani as a major influence in her music.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/olivia-rodrigo-guts-tour-free-morning-after-pills-missouri-concert-2024-3">Olivia Rodrigo</a> ran onto the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coachella-denim-jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-watched-lana-del-rey-2024-4">Coachella stage</a> Saturday in a red bralette and cropped white tank top bedazzled with "I love ND" — an outfit that screamed 1995.The ND was for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gwen-stefani-no-doubt-songs-make-her-feel-sick-memories-2024-2">No Doubt</a>, which reunited on the festival stage for the first time in nine years. Rodrigo and singer <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gwen-stefani-cultural-appropriation-timeline-harajuku-girls-2023-1">Gwen Stefani</a> performed the band's 2000 hit "Bathwater."It was a dream come true for one of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-disconnected-youth-retirement-no-income-buy-home-anxiety-2024-4">Gen Z</a>'s pop-punk princesses, who recently told Nylon Magazine she heard the band for the first time at 15 years old when she came across No Doubt's 2000 album, "Return of Saturn." It's not the first time the 21-year-old has gushed over Stefani and No Doubt — during the release of her first album, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/olivia-rodrigo-sour-review-tracklist-breakdown-2021-5">"SOUR,"</a> Rodrigo called Stefani her "hero.""I remember hearing 'Bathwater' for the first time when I had just started writing songs," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C5wSrAgyjvo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">Rodrigo wrote on Instagram</a> Sunday. "it totally turned my world on its head and inspires me to this day. was the coolest honor to sing it with @nodoubt and @gwenstefani this weekend at @coachella !!!! they're out of this world!!!!"Clearly, she takes inspiration from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-x-age-income-debt-forgotten-middle-child-struggling-financially-2023-12">Gen X </a>icons — Rodrigo has often been accused of ripping off <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqEepP7Ae9E/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">Radiohead</a> — and she and Willow (daughter to short-lived nu-metal singer Jada Pinkett-Smith) are frequently credited with making pop-punk cool again in the 2020s.Rodrigo has long paid dues to her Gen X predecessors, calling them a huge inspiration to her music. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dave-coulier-alanis-morissette-you-ougha-know-2022-7">Alanis Morissette</a>'s "Jagged Little Pill" inspired the lyrics to Rodrigo's angsty "Deja Vu," which features a montage of memories about an ex-lover, she said in 2022. Rodrigo also revealed she was "obsessed" with singer <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fiona-apple-grammys-dr-luke-nomination-say-so-2020-12">Fiona Apple</a> while discussing her own song "jealousy, jealousy."On her most recent album, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/olivia-rodrigo-guts-album-review-tracklist-breakdown-2023-9">"GUTS,"</a> the singer told Rolling Stone that she tapped into tunes from the all-woman ensemble Babes in Toyland to help craft "All-American Bitch" — a song questioning misogynistic expectations.It's clear that she's gaining some street cred among Gen X: Of course, she is buddies with Stefani. And Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day told Vulture it "would be fun" to collaborate with Rodrigo. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jack-white-auctioning-tesla-after-slamming-elon-musks-twitter-role-2023-7">Jack White of The White Stripes,</a> who met Rodrigo, praised her love of vinyl records and gave her his stamp of approval."I had the chance to meet a talented singer and musician today named @OliviaRodrigo," White wrote in 2022. "she's very cool, very real and very much a lover of music. She's also introducing another set of youth to the love of vinyl records as well. Respect." Rodrigo and Stefani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Olivia Rodrigo's guest appearance with No Doubt at Coachella proves the Gen Z artist is carrying a torch for Gen X

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13780924" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lady-camden" source="Orion">Lady Camden</keyword> spoke to Insider about the "<keyword id="12105628" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="rupauls-drag-race" source="Orion">RuPaul's Drag Race</keyword>" season 14 finale.</li><li>The British-born queen won three challenges but ultimately lost to Willow Pill in the finale.</li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/rupauls-drag-race-2019-1">"RuPaul's Drag Race"</a> season 14 runner-up Lady Camden spoke to Insider about losing to Willow Pill, saying that she "wouldn't have changed anything." "I served it as much as I could in the competition," the British-born queen continued, reflecting on the April 22 finale.Lady Camden added that she believes Willow won instead because "her story is more captivating to audiences in terms of something to take away from the show.""We're just completely different entertainers. We bring something very different to drag, each of us," she continued. "What I bring is <keyword id="11896019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="entertainment" source="Orion">entertainment</keyword> and performing and I'm a showgirl. I think Willow's message as to what she's been through in her life... I think that's the kind of story that a lot of viewers really are inspired by." After performing an original song, "I Fall Down (I Got Up)" in the finale, Lady Camden made it to the top two where she lip synced to Cher's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" against Willow Pill.<div type="image" title="Bosco, Angeria Paris VanMicheals, Daya Betty, Willow Pill and Lady Camden attend the finale of &quot;RuPaul's Drag Race&quot; season 14." height="1600" width="2000" msid="91242867" hostid="261"></div>After Lady Camden lost to Pill, <a href="https://twitter.com/SYRECHICKEE/status/1517672182993899520">many fans noted the similarities</a> between the season 14 top two and the season 11 top two.In season 11, Canadian ballerina Brooke Lynn Hytes lost to Denver oddball Yvie Oddly in a similar way the former ballerina Lady Camden lost to Oddly's drag daughter and fellow quirky Coloradan Willow Pill. "I'm very flattered that people are making comparisons to that," Camden told Insider. "I think Brooke Lynn is fantastic. I've been a huge fan of hers for years." Despite her loss, Lady Camden is showing no signs of stopping. She's joined the official tour of "<keyword id="12105627" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="rupaul" source="Orion">RuPaul</keyword>'s <keyword id="12169861" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="drag-race" source="Orion">Drag Race</keyword>," which also features Jorgeous, Plastique Tiara and Jaida Essence Hall. Camden said she's been busy trying to "pick up choreography and trying not to mess up on stage.""I kind of have just jumped straight into this tour with Werq the World and what's been kind of nice about that is that I haven't had a lot of time to sort of think about stuff," she said, referring to the finale. "I've sort of just quickly moved on to like the next thing."After being welcomed into the runner-up club by Brooke Lynn Hytes, could Lady Camden follow in the Canadian queen's footsteps and host "RuPaul's Drag Race UK"? "Oh my god, I would love to," she said."What a great job just to sit there and judge people, how amazing would that be — and to look amazing doing it!" she said. "I would love to have any involvement in the UK situation. It would be nice to come home and have a full circle moment but who knows, there's nothing in the works." Camden also said she'd be open to competing on "RuPaul's Drag Race UK.""My answer is not no," she added but clarified that it's difficult to consider at the moment. "Every queen who just gets off the show, the last thing they want to do is jump right back into it because it's exhausting."Regarding her future plans, Lady Camden revealed that she and fellow finalist Angeria Paris VanMicheals are thinking about "putting together a podcast just so we get an excuse to chat to each other a few hours a week.""My dream would be to do a one-woman show because I love to do crazy shit on stage. I love to do stunts," she said. "I'm very theatrical so it would be really cool to have a show with dancers and ballet."

'Drag Race' runner-up Lady Camden says she 'wouldn't have changed anything' about season 14: 'I served it as much as I could'

<div type="image" title="Photos of Gottmik, Kerri Colby, RuPaul, Jasmine Kennedie and Willow Pill lead 2x1" height="1167" width="2334" msid="92416023" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://www.insider.com/we-us-ours-lgbtq-communities-and-queer-spaces"></a><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Emmy-winning show "RuPaul's Drag Race" has encouraged a new generation of LGBTQ+ fans to come out.</li><li>The casting of Gottmik, the drag persona of the first trans man to compete, was a "watershed" moment, an academic said.</li></ul>Brandon Austin struggled with feeling different in high school."I wasn't myself at all. Nobody was gay, and I was an easy target for bullies. I felt abnormal," he told Insider. "Then, at 16, my best friend introduced me to 'RuPaul's Drag Race.'"Austin, a 20-year-old from Kent, England, is one of many young LGBTQ+ people whose coming-out story involves "<a href="https://www.insider.com/rupauls-drag-race-2019-1">RuPaul's Drag Race</a>.""Without 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' I wouldn't have had the confidence to come out as gay," Austin told Insider. "I think I'd still be a few years away from coming out."The Emmy-winning reality show, broadcast on VH1 and Paramount+ in the US, follows RuPaul Charles' search for "America's next drag superstar." It's been described as "<a href="https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/rupaul-drag-race-contestants-season-all-stars-ranked">the closest gay culture gets to a sports league</a>."Throughout its 14 seasons — and numerous spin-offs — it has shed light on issues important to LGBTQ+ communities, such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/slay-stigma-hiv-drag-queen-rupaul-twisted-element-1.5311140">HIV</a>, <a href="https://www.dailyxtra.com/sober-drag-queens-addiction-179896">substance use</a>, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/rupauls-drag-race-first-openly-trans-male-contestant-gottmik">transgender identities</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jujubeefans/posts/i-only-had-my-parents-until-i-was-15-my-father-died-and-the-same-year-my-mother-/10153068215605027/">family abandonment</a>, and <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2017/04/28/rupauls-drag-race-peppermint-coming-out/">coming out</a>.It has also brought the art of female impersonation into the mainstream.Drag's place in the zeitgeist means that more young LGBTQ+ people watching the show have visible queer icons they can look up to. This representation is significant for many <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-is-smartphone-generation-2019-7">Gen Zers</a> who have grown up with the show over its 12 years. For several, it has been integral to their being out and proud about their identities."Seeing people being accepted for who they are made me realize that I am normal," Austin told Insider.<h2>'It helped me to accept myself'</h2>By day, Austin works in an Amazon warehouse. By night, he moonlights as a "glitterific" drag queen called Sophia Stardust.Austin, who has been performing as Sophia Stardust for four years, credited the show with helping him to embrace his sexuality and giving him the confidence to pursue drag.<div type="image" title="teenage drag queen" height="360" width="480" msid="92416026" hostid="261"></div>Austin had grown up with little exposure to gay <keyword id="11899151" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="culture" source="Orion">culture</keyword>. But "RuPaul's Drag Race" was a revelation."I was living in an area where all I saw was straight people," he said. "Then, watching this show, I saw a new world — a world where people were getting recognition and praise for existing as these magical creatures."It helped me to accept myself," he continued. "Shortly after, I came out as gay. Then a week after that, I got a cheap wig from my neighbor's attic, bought some Superdrug makeup, and got into drag for the very first time."<div type="image" title="drag queen uk teenager" height="360" width="480" msid="92416031" hostid="261"></div><h2>'I'd definitely still be struggling with my gender identity'</h2>Like Austin, 17-year-old Neptune is thankful for "RuPaul's Drag Race's" role in their coming-out story.The nonbinary drag queen, who was assigned female at birth, said they became confident after being introduced to the show."Without 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' I probably wouldn't be calling myself nonbinary," they said. "I'd definitely still be struggling with my gender identity."<div type="image" title="neptune teenage drag queen" height="360" width="480" msid="92416033" hostid="261"></div>Neptune began watching the show when they were 11 years old. At first, they said, they thought drag was "just for men."After watching a few seasons of the show, Neptune went to Pride Glasgow, Scotland's largest LGBTQ+ festival, where they met a drag queen for the first time."I found out from them that there were loads of AFAB and gender-nonconforming queens," Neptune said. "This gave me the confidence to start doing drag myself."They said the show introduced them to a world that allowed them to explore their gender. Neptune came out as nonbinary this year.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tomboyx-cofounder-built-inclusive-gender-neutral-clothing-brand-2020-11">LGBTQ customers spend $917 billion a year on brands they care about. Here's how the cofounder of the inclusive clothing line TomboyX harnessed her strict upbringing to build a beloved business with her wife.</a>"'Drag Race' was a huge inspiration and was my entry into a community," Neptune told Insider. "My life would be very different without the show."One queen who Neptune said was an important part of their journey is Gottmik, the drag persona of 24-year-old Kade Gottlieb, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/rupauls-drag-race-first-openly-trans-male-contestant-gottmik">the first trans man cast on the show</a>."Having Gottmik on the show is incredibly important," they said. "Casting trans queens introduces and normalizes transness."<h2>Gottlieb, aka Gottmik, is the first trans man to compete on the show</h2>Gottmik broadened the show's scope of what constitutes a drag queen.Gottlieb was the show's first transgender man to compete, its first queen to be assigned female at birth, and its first contestant to have had top surgery, a procedure that trans men can undergo to remove breast tissue.For many of the show's fans, Gottmik's casting was a major turning point.<div type="image" title="gottmik drag race rupaul" height="1724" width="2299" msid="92416035" hostid="261"></div>In 2018, RuPaul <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/08/rupaul-drag-race-transgender-performers-diversity">said he would "probably not" include trans women</a> on the show. The host <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8232231/rupaul-responds-backlash-hurtful-comments/">eventually backtracked</a>, but the comment has consistently been criticized as exclusionary and transphobic.Since then, numerous trans women have appeared on the show.Season 14, which aired this year, included five trans contestants. Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté and Kerri Colby were out when they entered the workroom, with fellow contestants Bosco, Jasmine Kennedie, and Willow Pill opening up about their identities during or after the season's filming.Nonbinary contestants have also appeared on the show. And in the third season of the UK spinoff "RuPaul's Drag Race UK," a cisgender woman — Victoria Scone — was featured.But Gottmik's inclusion in Season 13 represented a seismic shift, marking a widening net of who can compete.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sephora-inclusivity-lesson-viral-incident-sza-2020-2">Sephora's VP of marketing explains what a viral incident with the musician SZA taught the company about inclusivity</a>In Gottmik's first appearance on the show, the drag queen <a href="https://www.them.us/story/gottmik-discusses-top-surgery-pronouns-ru-pauls-drag-race-season-13">spoke frankly about experiencing gender dysphoria</a> and having had top surgery. Pronouns were also discussed: "She" in drag, "he" out of drag."Coming out on the episode and talking about gender dysphoria and top surgery was weird for me. I don't even talk about it with my friends," Gottlieb told Insider. "At first, I felt a little bit concerned about my family and how they were going to react to seeing it on TV for the first time."But I took a step back and realized this is a real moment for trans people. Trans people go through dysphoria and have top-surgery moments," he added. "I just had to own it, kill it, and be honored to have such a platform."Gottlieb said he recognized that his being on the show could validate someone's journey to feeling secure in their gender identity."I have the most amount of messages I could have ever imagined from young trans guys wanting to explore drag but who are worried it might invalidate their gender or people might look at them in some sort of way," he said. "Seeing that I helped them realize that drag is just an art form, not a gender, is so amazing for me to see."<h2>'Representation matters'</h2>Gottmik's casting was profound for many young <keyword id="11911085" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lgbtq" source="Orion">LGBTQ</keyword> people and particularly trans people, Katie Horowitz, an assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies at Davidson College, told Insider in 2021."Gottmik's casting is a watershed moment," Horowitz said. "To see somebody who was assigned female who then transitioned to identifying as a man performing as a woman is an incredibly new and groundbreaking conversation."<div type="image" title="GOTTMIK drag race us season 13" height="1000" width="1333" msid="92416037" hostid="261"></div>"I think exposure to this sort of thing normalizes both queerness and being transgender to little kids," Horowitz said. "Now kids growing up will see people play with gender, and that affirms that that's something that's OK to do."This representation is cause for celebration, according to the LGBTQ charity Stonewall. "'Drag Race' shows a kaleidoscope of possibilities of what people can be in a really positive and uplifting way," Jeffrey Ingold, the charity's head of media, told Insider."Representation matters, because you can't be what you can't see," he added.Crystal, a former contestant on the show's UK spinoff, agreed that the show had championed self-expression.<div type="image" title="crystal drag queen uk" height="1800" width="2400" msid="92416040" hostid="261"></div>"Young people are seeing that it's freeing to realize that the rule book on gender you've been given by society is not necessarily the one that you need to adhere to," the drag queen said. "I feel like we're now on the verge of getting a generation of kids who don't feel shame about their sexuality or gender."But Crystal, who famously boasts a chest of hair, argued that too much focus had been placed on "female illusion" instead of dismantling gender norms."Hopefully people take the message that drag is about expressing yourself however you want and not just about having giant hips, boobs, and lips," Crystal added.<h2>'I don't think it's done huge amounts for females, women, and for trans people'</h2>Another former contestant, Divina de Campo, also said the show could do more to fully represent LGBTQ communities.<div type="image" title="divina de campo drag race" height="459" width="613" msid="92416042" hostid="261"></div>"'Drag Race' has raised the bar on queer visibility," they told Insider. "But we have to be very aware that it's male queer visibility. There's practically no queer female visibility, and there's only one male trans person in over 20 seasons."I think it's done great things about opening up conversations about the power of femininity and owning that as a male person, but I don't think it's done huge amounts for women and for trans people," de Campo said."The message is that if you're male, you're acceptable. That, to me, is thorny," they added.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-cheap-high-quality-lgbt-inclusive-credit-suisse-2020-12">Buy these 28 discounted stocks from an LGBT-inclusive index that's crushed its global benchmark since 2010, Credit Suisse says</a>While the show has championed queer issues and helped to empower some young LGBTQ+ people, others say more could be done to represent a broader swath of identities."'Drag Race' was the representation I needed when I was growing up," Austin said. "But now it's important for the current generations to see more trans and nonbinary people. Then they'll also be able to think, 'This is my time.'"This article is part of <a href="https://www.insider.com/we-us-ours-lgbtq-communities-and-queer-spaces">"We/Us/Ours,"</a> a series about LGBTQ communities and spaces that inspire queer unity.

By championing self-expression, 'RuPaul's Drag Race' has encouraged a generation of young LGBTQ+ fans to come out

<a href="https://www.insider.com/we-us-ours-lgbtq-communities-and-queer-spaces"></a><div type="image" title="Photos of Gottmik, Kerri Colby, RuPaul, Jasmine Kennedie and Willow Pill lead 2x1" height="1167" width="2334" msid="92260880" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Emmy-winning show "<keyword id="1560287" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="RuPaul" source="Orion">RuPaul</keyword>'s Drag Race" has encouraged a new generation of LGBTQ+ fans to come out.</li><li>The casting of Gottmik, the drag persona of the first trans man to compete, was a "watershed" moment, an academic said.</li><li>But more could be done to support female, nonbinary, and trans viewers, two former contestants said.</li></ul>Brandon Austin struggled with feeling different in high school."I wasn't myself at all. Nobody was gay, and I was an easy target for bullies. I felt abnormal," he told Insider. "Then, at 16, my best friend introduced me to 'RuPaul's Drag Race.'"Austin, a 20-year-old from Kent, England, is one of many young LGBTQ+ people whose coming-out story involves "<a href="https://www.insider.com/rupauls-drag-race-2019-1">RuPaul's Drag Race</a>.""Without 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' I wouldn't have had the confidence to come out as gay," Austin told Insider. "I think I'd still be a few years away from coming out."The Emmy-winning reality show, broadcast on VH1 and Paramount+ in the US, follows RuPaul Charles' search for "America's next drag superstar." It's been described as "<a href="https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/rupaul-drag-race-contestants-season-all-stars-ranked">the closest gay culture gets to a sports league</a>."Throughout its 14 seasons — and numerous spin-offs — it has shed light on issues important to LGBTQ+ communities, such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/slay-stigma-hiv-drag-queen-rupaul-twisted-element-1.5311140">HIV</a>, <a href="https://www.dailyxtra.com/sober-drag-queens-addiction-179896">substance use</a>, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/rupauls-drag-race-first-openly-trans-male-contestant-gottmik">transgender identities</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jujubeefans/posts/i-only-had-my-parents-until-i-was-15-my-father-died-and-the-same-year-my-mother-/10153068215605027/">family abandonment</a>, and <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2017/04/28/rupauls-drag-race-peppermint-coming-out/">coming out</a>.It has also brought the art of female impersonation into the mainstream.Drag's place in the zeitgeist means that more young LGBTQ+ people watching the show have visible queer icons they can look up to. This representation is significant for many <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-is-smartphone-generation-2019-7">Gen Zers</a> who have grown up with the show over its 12 years. For several, it has been integral to their being out and proud about their identities."Seeing people being accepted for who they are made me realize that I am normal," Austin told Insider.<h2>'It helped me to accept myself'</h2>By day, Austin works in an Amazon warehouse. By night, he moonlights as a "glitterific" drag queen called Sophia Stardust.Austin, who has been performing as Sophia Stardust for four years, credited the show with helping him to embrace his sexuality and giving him the confidence to pursue drag.<div type="image" title="teenage drag queen" height="360" width="480" msid="80600685" hostid="261"></div>Austin had grown up with little exposure to gay <keyword id="24504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="culture" source="Orion">culture</keyword>. But "RuPaul's Drag Race" was a revelation."I was living in an area where all I saw was straight people," he said. "Then, watching this show, I saw a new world — a world where people were getting recognition and praise for existing as these magical creatures."It helped me to accept myself," he continued. "Shortly after, I came out as gay. Then a week after that, I got a cheap wig from my neighbor's attic, bought some Superdrug makeup, and got into drag for the very first time."<div type="image" title="drag queen uk teenager" height="360" width="480" msid="80600686" hostid="261"></div><h2>'I'd definitely still be struggling with my gender identity'</h2>Like Austin, 17-year-old Neptune is thankful for "RuPaul's Drag Race's" role in their coming-out story.The nonbinary drag queen, who was assigned female at birth, said they became confident after being introduced to the show."Without 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' I probably wouldn't be calling myself nonbinary," they said. "I'd definitely still be struggling with my gender identity."<div type="image" title="neptune teenage drag queen" height="360" width="480" msid="80600687" hostid="261"></div>Neptune began watching the show when they were 11 years old. At first, they said, they thought drag was "just for men."After watching a few seasons of the show, Neptune went to Pride Glasgow, Scotland's largest LGBTQ+ festival, where they met a drag queen for the first time."I found out from them that there were loads of AFAB and gender-nonconforming queens," Neptune said. "This gave me the confidence to start doing drag myself."They said the show introduced them to a world that allowed them to explore their gender. Neptune came out as nonbinary this year.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tomboyx-cofounder-built-inclusive-gender-neutral-clothing-brand-2020-11">LGBTQ customers spend $917 billion a year on brands they care about. Here's how the cofounder of the inclusive clothing line TomboyX harnessed her strict upbringing to build a beloved business with her wife.</a>"'Drag Race' was a huge inspiration and was my entry into a community," Neptune told Insider. "My life would be very different without the show."One queen who Neptune said was an important part of their journey is Gottmik, the drag persona of 24-year-old Kade Gottlieb, <a href="https://www.them.us/story/rupauls-drag-race-first-openly-trans-male-contestant-gottmik">the first trans man cast on the show</a>."Having Gottmik on the show is incredibly important," they said. "Casting trans queens introduces and normalizes transness."<h2>Gottlieb, aka Gottmik, is the first trans man to compete on the show</h2>Gottmik broadened the show's scope of what constitutes a drag queen.Gottlieb was the show's first transgender man to compete, its first queen to be assigned female at birth, and its first contestant to have had top surgery, a procedure that trans men can undergo to remove breast tissue.For many of the show's fans, Gottmik's casting was a major turning point.<div type="image" title="gottmik drag race rupaul" height="1724" width="2299" msid="80600688" hostid="261"></div>In 2018, RuPaul <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/08/rupaul-drag-race-transgender-performers-diversity">said he would "probably not" include trans women</a> on the show. The host <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8232231/rupaul-responds-backlash-hurtful-comments/">eventually backtracked</a>, but the comment has consistently been criticized as exclusionary and transphobic.Since then, numerous trans women have appeared on the show.Season 14, which aired this year, included five trans contestants. Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté and Kerri Colby were out when they entered the workroom, with fellow contestants Bosco, Jasmine Kennedie, and Willow Pill opening up about their identities during or after the season's filming.Nonbinary contestants have also appeared on the show. And in the third season of the UK spinoff "RuPaul's Drag Race UK," a cisgender woman — Victoria Scone — was featured.But Gottmik's inclusion in Season 13 represented a seismic shift, marking a widening net of who can compete.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sephora-inclusivity-lesson-viral-incident-sza-2020-2">Sephora's VP of marketing explains what a viral incident with the musician SZA taught the company about inclusivity</a>In Gottmik's first appearance on the show, the drag queen <a href="https://www.them.us/story/gottmik-discusses-top-surgery-pronouns-ru-pauls-drag-race-season-13">spoke frankly about experiencing gender dysphoria</a> and having had top surgery. Pronouns were also discussed: "She" in drag, "he" out of drag."Coming out on the episode and talking about gender dysphoria and top surgery was weird for me. I don't even talk about it with my friends," Gottlieb told Insider. "At first, I felt a little bit concerned about my family and how they were going to react to seeing it on TV for the first time."But I took a step back and realized this is a real moment for trans people. Trans people go through dysphoria and have top-surgery moments," he added. "I just had to own it, kill it, and be honored to have such a platform."Gottlieb said he recognized that his being on the show could validate someone's journey to feeling secure in their gender identity."I have the most amount of messages I could have ever imagined from young trans guys wanting to explore drag but who are worried it might invalidate their gender or people might look at them in some sort of way," he said. "Seeing that I helped them realize that drag is just an art form, not a gender, is so amazing for me to see."<h2>'Representation matters'</h2>Gottmik's casting was profound for many young <keyword id="729067" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="LGBTQ" source="Orion">LGBTQ</keyword> people and particularly trans people, Katie Horowitz, an assistant professor of gender and sexuality studies at Davidson College, told Insider in 2021."Gottmik's casting is a watershed moment," Horowitz said. "To see somebody who was assigned female who then transitioned to identifying as a man performing as a woman is an incredibly new and groundbreaking conversation."<div type="image" title="GOTTMIK drag race us season 13" height="1000" width="1333" msid="80600689" hostid="261"></div>"I think exposure to this sort of thing normalizes both queerness and being transgender to little kids," Horowitz said. "Now kids growing up will see people play with gender, and that affirms that that's something that's OK to do."This representation is cause for celebration, according to the LGBTQ charity Stonewall. "'Drag Race' shows a kaleidoscope of possibilities of what people can be in a really positive and uplifting way," Jeffrey Ingold, the charity's head of media, told Insider."Representation matters, because you can't be what you can't see," he added.Crystal, a former contestant on the show's UK spinoff, agreed that the show had championed self-expression.<div type="image" title="crystal drag queen uk" height="1800" width="2400" msid="80600691" hostid="261"></div>"Young people are seeing that it's freeing to realize that the rule book on gender you've been given by society is not necessarily the one that you need to adhere to," the drag queen said. "I feel like we're now on the verge of getting a generation of kids who don't feel shame about their sexuality or gender."But Crystal, who famously boasts a chest of hair, argued that too much focus had been placed on "female illusion" instead of dismantling gender norms."Hopefully people take the message that drag is about expressing yourself however you want and not just about having giant hips, boobs, and lips," Crystal added.<h2>'I don't think it's done huge amounts for females, women, and for trans people'</h2>Another former contestant, Divina de Campo, also said the show could do more to fully represent LGBTQ communities.<div type="image" title="divina de campo drag race" height="459" width="613" msid="80600692" hostid="261"></div>"'Drag Race' has raised the bar on queer visibility," they told Insider. "But we have to be very aware that it's male queer visibility. There's practically no queer female visibility, and there's only one male trans person in over 20 seasons."I think it's done great things about opening up conversations about the power of femininity and owning that as a male person, but I don't think it's done huge amounts for women and for trans people," de Campo said."The message is that if you're male, you're acceptable. That, to me, is thorny," they added.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-cheap-high-quality-lgbt-inclusive-credit-suisse-2020-12">Buy these 28 discounted stocks from an LGBT-inclusive index that's crushed its global benchmark since 2010, Credit Suisse says</a>While the show has championed queer issues and helped to empower some young LGBTQ+ people, others say more could be done to represent a broader swath of identities."'Drag Race' was the representation I needed when I was growing up," Austin said. "But now it's important for the current generations to see more trans and nonbinary people. Then they'll also be able to think, 'This is my time.'"

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