RuPaul has finally responded to the controversy surrounding the word "tranny," as well as the use of "she-mail" on popular reality television show "RuPaul's Drag Race."
The drag performer sat down with comedian Marc Maron on his WTF Podcast this week and articulated his thoughts surrounding the language-based controversy, which he has refrained from addressing until now.
When asked whether he is bothered by the word "tranny," RuPaul responded by saying, “No! I love the word tranny.”
Maron then noted that the trans community is offended by the term, to which Ru responded:
No, it is not the transsexual community. These are fringe people who are looking for story lines to strengthen their identity as victims. That is what we’re dealing with. It’s not the trans community, because most people who are trans have been through hell and high water and they know -- they've looked behind the curtain at Oz and went, 'Oh, this is all a f**king joke. But, some people haven't... You know, if your idea of happiness has to do with someone else changing what they say, what they do, you are in for a f**king hard-ass road.
Ru also directly addressed the decision by "Drag Race" producers to re-edit this season of the reality show to remove the word "she-mail" from every episode:
My 32-year career speaks for itself. I dance to the beat of a different drummer. I believe that everybody, you can be whatever the hell you wanna be. I ain’t stopping you. But don’t you dare tell me what I can do or say. It’s just words. Yeah, words do hurt… You know what? … You need to get stronger. You really do, because you know what, if you think, if you’re upset by something I said, you have bigger problems than you think.
The full excerpt can be heard above.
Earlier this month, "RuPaul's Drag Race" came under fire for the use of what many claimed to be a transphobic slur. RuPaul and producers later released a statement about the controversy, and eventually decided to pull the use of "she-mail" from the show entirely.