The nation was collectively gagged when the iconic and illustrious Sasha Colby was crowned RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 winner late last week. Not only was her nearly nude grand finale lip sync performance stunning– what we’ve come to expect from Sasha Colby– it was a big “f*ck you” to transphobes, she explained to Entertainment Weekly.
“I wanted [legislators] to see what they’re trying to eradicate. Because they’re probably eradicating it because they’re attracted to it,” she said.
“I told myself, while doing the finale, that this wasn’t trying to win, this was me showing these people that want to silence us and put us down and – for lack of better words – say ‘f**k you’ to all of them.”
Texas, Missouri, Florida, Tennessee, and Kentucky are some of the states trying to limit gender-affirming care for trans people. Tennessee recently became the first state to ban public drag performances and other states are trying to do the same. Given the recent wave of anti-trans and anti-drag legislation in the US, Sasha Colby said, “It was a specific choice to be naked in these times.”
“With this legislation and everything happening, for me to represent Drag Race and such a huge conglomerate like MTV and be exactly what [conservatives] want to eradicate is so powerful,” she continued.
“I understand the eyes on me, which is why I wanted to be naked. I wanted to normalize this trans body … this has been bigger than me at this point, in this political climate.”
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She called out the potential for lust and intrigue to be underlying lawmakers’ hatred, and that the only way for someone to have a such a strong reaction and desire to control something is if they feel strongly about it themselves. “The only way you can feel upset with something is if it evokes a strong feeling in you. Usually that feeling is lust hidden under hate. That’s what they’re uncomfortable with.”
It’s hard not to have a strong reaction to the beautiful Sasha Colby, who performed her final lip sync against fellow top two queen Anetra to Amii Stewart’s “Knock on Wood.” Sasha Colby started the performance in a black velvet coat, removing it to reveal a purple sparkly gown, and then removed the gown to show her final nearly-nude look in dimante underwear.
She was crowned Rupaul’s Drag Race season 15 winner in that same nude look and dedicated her win to “every trans person – past, present and future.”
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