And All the Strange Rock and Rollers

The fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race has ended and Sharon Needles was crowned the next drag superstar. I couldn't be happier. For the first time, Ru put the fate of who would win into the hands of her audience. To me, this was an even greater victory for Sharon, because it meant that not only did Ru see something in her spookiness, but the rest of the world did as well.  Sharon talked a lot about how it wasn't just being gay that made life difficult, but also being a weird kid.  In the vast land of drag queens, Sharon's victory wasn't just for the ladyboys out there, but also one for all of us fringe people who dress in black and dare to enjoy the strange. It was a victory for the little post punk goth spirit in all of us and I'm damned proud of that.

You know, the crazy homophobic culture Nazis bitch whenever gay people show up on television. They don't like to watch them buy houses, they don't like to know they have talent or want jobs.  It seems they certainly don't like it when they advise Mitt Romney.  One of their complaints is that by showing the homosexuals to TV, it will help to normalize them and influence children. They may be on to something.

Because on the reunion show, Latrice read a letter she received from the mother of a little girl. The letter talked about how the little girl had been bullied at school, but, because she loved Latrice so much and saw how this 400 lb. black man wearing women's clothing had overcome all manner of hardships, she knew she could stand up to the bullies and live her life with bravery. This little girl learned to be fierce. How's that for an influence?

Of course, I'm sure that's the last thing the haters want to think about.  They dislike the homosexuals as it is, but more than that, they certainly don't want everyone else finding value in them. It probably even puzzles them that people could.

What they don't realize is that when I look at people like Sharon and Latrice, I don't think about how they have sex with others. I think about how these people grew up outside the normal. Like many who aren't normal, they suffered for it. Beaten, abused, tormented, teased.  Everyone tried their best to break them and make them conform.

But they didn't.  Not only did they refuse to be "normal straight men," they took it a step farther and sexywalked into drag. They found their warrior strength in a different kind of battle, in a multifaceted performance art.  The look is important, but so is the strength, the nerve, the wit, and the sense of personal power.

To watch someone go from a marginal position in society to a place of such fortitude is inspiring. It doesn't just inspire gay people either. It inspires anyone who has suffered that same kind of hazing and social struggle. It inspires all us weird kids out there, all the bullied ones, all the strange ones. It is the true ugly duckling to the beautiful swan.  And it is a kind of inspiration I have never, ever found in someone who played by the rules and conformed to all the social norms.

Sometimes I think that's the crux of homophobia. It's not about morality or religion. It's not about what is perceived to be good for society or the nation or whatever.  I think homophobia stems from people who lack self-esteem and only find comfort in being part of the group.  When someone comes along and tells them that, by their very nature, they reject this group and its rules, these people take that rejection personally.  Because they cling so tightly to the their status in the group, they perceive anyone who just isn't impressed by that status as a threat.

As much as they say it scares them that the gay people are trying to make everyone gay, I think it freaks them out even more that the gay people just might not care if they are or not.

Anyway, I'm happy for Sharon and I'm glad she won.  It was a great day to be a freaky. Mmbopmmbopbop.