RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Victoria Scone has said that she doesn’t take people who criticise her right to do drag seriously as they are “misogynists”.
The Cardiff-based drag queen is making history as the first cisgender woman to compete on any Drag Race franchise in the world.
While her casting was widely praised for platforming diversity within the drag communities, a small number questioned the validity of her drag as a cis woman.
Speaking to The Independent, Victoria, 27, said that she’d been taken aback by the “overwhelmingly positive” response to her joining the new series.
“I know it seems that the negative is so horrific, but I can’t take it personally because they are misogynists,” she said.
“If your only reason for not enjoying me when you’ve only seen a 90-second clip of me is that I’m not a real drag queen, I can’t take that personally. That’s just because you have a problem with a woman doing drag.”
While Drag Race has come under fire in the past for predominantly featuring drag performers who are cisgender men, the show has worked in recent years to diversify its line-ups.
A number of trans women have taken part in the competition, including Kylie Sonique Love, who recently won All Stars 6, while trans man Gottmik reached the final of season 13 in the US earlier this year.
Victoria said that she had previously been frustrated with the show’s portrayal of drag, but added: “How could I, as a cisgender woman, complain that there were no other cisgender women on the show if I wasn’t applying myself?”
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK begins Thursday 23 September at 7pm on BBC iPlayer.
