So,
it came to my attention in this week's Willamette Weekly that Sharon Needles
(a.k.a. Aaron Coady) of RuPaul's Drag Race is going to be in Portland.
Fun Facts About Sharon Needles:
Sharon
Needles has worn a swastika t-shirt.
Sharon Needles has worn a Confederate flag
one-piece swimsuit.
Sharon Needles has used the N-WORD onstage. (Courtesy of Queerty)
Not
only that but WW's interview spot called the Hotseat in the "Culture"
section interviewed Sharon. What I found rather hilarious is that despite this
column's name, Aaron Spencer (the interviewer) did not ask any difficult
questions of Sharon. In fact he didn't touch any of the controversy surrounding
Needles, who has been accused of being not only racist but also transphobic and
classist. I noticed also during RuPaul's Drag Race (shut up!) that Needles wore
many controversial tee-shirts, two supporting Republican politicians and one
even being a confederate flag, which the producers apparently made her cover up
later in the episode. In a video after the series finished, Needles is quoted
as saying:
The other night me and a couple of my friends went out to have a good
time, and there's this young thing. I call her a "thing" because, you
know, I don't know how to tip-toe around gender rules or queer politics. I'm 30
years old, rich, and famous; I don't have to deal with that shit anymore, you
know what I mean? So we'll just call them
"him"/"her"/"thing," whatever. And you know she
really finds my shows offensive. ... So anyway she got upset that I paint
myself brown, that I would use language that she found offensive. ... She made
me an unnecessary poster child for post-racial change."
SIDE
EYE FOREVER! As if we're post-racial...ha!
Also
Needles posted this on her Facebook:
“i
fucked a black last week…call me a cheater, not a racists..i don’t say
n-word..i say n****r..thats the word..i’m not afraid of language..and i’m not
afraid to say red lipstick is not your color..and i’m not afraid to say that i
hate when people post pictures of them self eating..beans for that matter!! but
the baby picture is super cute!!" (Full story here)
Yeah,
so there was that.
To
me, Sharon Needles reflects a huge disconnect of the gay White (male)
mainstream and queer people of color, poor queer people, lesbians, disabled
queers, fat people and transfolk. We are constantly barraged with images of
skinny White "twink" men and Needles does a huge disservice to the
community as a whole when she uses her privilege for evil. Sorry guys, racism
and transphobia is evil. No other word for it. I don't want this bitch
coming to my city, but I gotta remember she's playing to the White Gay Hegemony
and that's just the way it is. Then again, I also remember reading somewhere that Lady Gaga is a fan. So
fuck you, Sharon Needles.
No love.
