RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 queen Amanda Tori Meating has come out as trans during a Quick Drag podcast interview from Entertainment Weekly. The Drag Race star told Entertainment Weekly that she had considered herself non-binary years before her appearance on Drag Race. Unfortunately, her husband at the time was not supportive of Amanda being trans.
“It wasn’t at all supported by my partner, and it ended up being a big part of why I had to leave, because he didn’t want to be with a trans person. I was in a bad place about it, mentally, for a while, but you get to a point where you’re like, I have to do what’s right for me, and that involved getting out of that,” Amanda said on Quick Drag.
She continued, “I showed up to Drag Race in this space of, I’m going to advocate for myself, I’m going to stand up for myself, I’m not going to allow myself to be victimized in the way that I feel like I have been in the past, pre-Drag Race. [I was] in this environment for the first time where everyone’s calling me Amanda and not my government name, and realizing how good that felt, and I started to feel a bit more comfortable in the reformation of my identity.”
After Drag Race season 16 wrapped, Amanda didn’t feel comfortable going back into an environment where she was being called by her government name and referred to with male pronouns.
“It was kind of jarring to go from that environment where everyone is calling me Amanda and she/her-ing me, to being called by my government name again, and he/him. I was like, ‘This is very much not correct for me.’ That experience helped push me out of the nest a little bit and crack the egg.”
Amanda Tori Meating is already a fan favorite because of her ridiculously clever name, sky high cheek bones, hilarious stage presence, and charmingly refreshing unpolished looks. Now we have another reason to be a fan: her bravery in being her authentic self. You can watch RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 every Friday on MTV. We can’t wait to see what’s next for Amanda Tori Meating!
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