Six world-famous drag queens and beloved RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni are making history by forming the first ever political action committee spearheaded by drag entertainers.
Queens Alaska, BenDeLaCreme, Willam, Peppermint, Monet X Change, and Jinkx Monsoon – who all appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race and have a combined 7.6 million followers on Instagram – have joined their fabulous forces to create Drag PAC.
The PAC’s mission is simple: the group aims to mobilize Gen Z voters and protect LGBTQIA+ rights at the polls.
“We are in the middle of something historic,” says queen Monet X Change in Drag PAC’s announcement video. “This is the most important election cycle for queer people’s rights and freedoms in our lifetimes.”
And she definitely isn’t wrong.
Anti-LGBTQIA+ policies have risen sharply in recent years, with a particular focus on anti-trans legislation. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has mapped 527 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills that have been introduced across the country in 2024 alone.
These bills concern everything from banning gender-affirming healthcare, forcing school faculty to out transgender or gender-nonconforming students to their families, expanding religious exemptions that would allow businesses and individuals to discriminate against those in the LGBTQIA+ community, and more.
Forty-four of those bills have already been passed into law this year.
“I think everyone is a little disheartened with our elected leadership,” says Jinkx Monsoon in a video posted to Drag PAC’s social media accounts. “And frankly our community is being assaulted, and it’s escalating to violence.”
Drag itself is being specifically targeted, with many states passing restrictive and incendiary “drag bans.” 2023 saw a wave of anti-drag bills that sought to ban drag performances. Two states – Tennessee and Montana – have already signed explicit drag bans into law, while four other states – Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota – have passed bills with language that could be interpreted to ban drag performances.
While civil rights organizations and First Amendment advocates have already challenged these bans with some success, the fight is far from over. As recently as July 18, 2024, a federal court overturned a challenge to Tennessee’s drag ban and dismissed the case.
The ruling, which was 2-1, was decided by two Republican-appointed judges, one appointed by former President Donald Trump and the other appointed by former President George W. Bush. The sole dissenting judge is a Biden appointee.
Violators of Tennessee’s anti-drag law could be charged with misdemeanors for performing in public, and repeat offenders could be charged with a felony.
(It’s worth noting that being convicted of a felony in Tennessee strips someone of their right to vote.)
“Drag PAC is necessary for now because these laws barring trans kids from gender affirming care and keeping kings and queens from doing their jobs is just the man trying to outlaw trans-ness,” founding queen Willam tells Love Inc. “We need to nip it in the bud when they pop up and make sure hate fueled legislation does not pass.”
This is particularly personal to Drag PAC’s founders, who are all seasoned drag performers that have achieved international acclaim over the course of their careers.
All founders are alumni of the extremely popular RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality show that showcases talented drag queens as they compete for the crown — some of whom graced the cover of our V9 print issue!
Willam, also known as Willam Belli, appeared on season four of Drag Race and has performed on both stage and screen, including a role in A Star Is Born alongside Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Willam’s work on the web-series EastSiders nabbed a Daytime Emmy nomination, making Willam the first drag performer to receive an Emmy nomination for acting.
Alaska was the runner-up on the fifth season of Drag Race and won the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars. Beyond the competition, Alaska teamed up with Willam to create a podcast channel – Moguls of Media (M.O.M.) – that “features a star-studded roster of iconic Drag Queens and Queer luminaries,” according to the channel’s website.
Fellow Drag Race season five castmate Jinkx Monsoon is the first Drag Race contestant to win two seasons of the show (season 5 of Drag Race and season 7 of All Stars). Jinkx has performed on Broadway and was featured in The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Special (2020), a Hulu Christmas special created with frequent collaborator BenDeLaCreme.
Also known as DeLa, BenDeLaCreme was voted Miss Congeniality on season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race and appeared on the third season of All Stars. Along with co-creating the Hulu special with Jinkx Monsoon, BenDeLaCreme spearheads a production company, BenDeLaCreme presents, and tours internationally.
Peppermint, also known as Miss Peppermint, was the runner-up of season nine of Drag Race and is the first contestant to be publicly out as a trans woman before joining the show. She has also made musical theatre history by being the first out trans actress to originate a leading role, when she made her 2018 Broadway debut in Head Over Heels.
Monet X Change competed on Drag Race’s tenth season where she was voted Miss Congeniality. Monet brought home the crown during All Stars season four and was season seven’s runner-up. Outside of the competition, she co-hosts two popular podcasts with fellow queens — Sibling Rivalry with Bob the Drag Queen and Ebony and Irony with Lady Bunny — and just premiered her talk show, Monet’s Slumber Party, this July.
Their identities as proud and prominent queer figures fuel their mission with Drag PAC.
“Alaska and I wanted to use our platform to make a difference,” Willam tells Love Inc.
“We have been through this before. We as queens and we as queer people are uniquely qualified to fight against this,” BenDeLaCreme says in a video posted to Drag PAC’s social media. “Being queer out in public is exercising radical politics. We owe it to our predecessors to continue being politically active.”
“We cannot allow people to cause us to retreat,” Jinkx adds in the same video.
“There’s just so much anti-trans, anti-drag legislation coming from these lawmakers, and these are people who know nothing about us,” says Willam in an official Drag PAC video.
But what exactly is a PAC, and how can it help stop the onslaught of homophobic and transphobic legislation that’s been steadily on the rise?
Political action committees (PACs for short) can trace their roots back to the labor movement of the 1940s. Labor unions joined together to pool their funds behind a particular candidate– or in some cases, against a particular candidate.
The practice of forming PACs picked up steam throughout the next several decades, and now PAC contributions are a crucial part of most campaign fundraising. When you donate to a PAC, the PAC is able to use those funds collectively and pay for big campaign expenses, such as ad campaigns and direct mail campaigns.
Because of this collective effort, PACs are able to shift and influence elections in ways that seem out-of-reach for individual donors. A person chipping in $5 to support a cause can’t afford to run a billboard campaign, but if you get a couple thousand people to funnel those $5 donations into a PAC, they can use those funds to spread the message.
PACs have been around for decades, and there is no shortage of committees dedicated to equality. But Drag PAC stands apart by focusing on mobilizing the vote, not just advocating for a single issue.
While the right to vote is a point of particular pride for many Americans – and one that was fought for with blood, sweat, and a lot of civil disobedience – voter turnout is far from 100%. The 2020 election saw the highest voter turnout since 1900 with 66% of eligible voters showing up to the polls, but even with that record-breaking turnout a third of American voters stayed home.
Drag PAC aims to change that, especially among the youth and queer demographics. They plan to use their platform as high-profile drag queens to turn out the vote and continue the increasing voter turnout trend.
“Voting or running for office or volunteering or making your voice heard in any way is crucial. Doing nothing and thinking that you can’t change the status quo is wrong,” Willam tells Love Inc. “The outdated laws from the '50s and '60s were overturned because the youth rallied and the youngsters are always the most important voice in every election.”
Harnessing the social engagement of drag fans and directing that into political action is a cornerstone of the PAC’s mission.
“If you can support your local and favorite drag queens by commenting on their social media and their content, then you can go to the polls and vote,” Alaska says in a promotional Drag PAC video. “Every single vote counts, y’all, and if you’re not casting yours then you’re just letting someone else snatch the crown.”
If you would like to get involved, head over to the official Drag PAC website. You can use their resources to register to vote (and make sure to check your voter registration even if you have registered in the past!) and find the election guidelines for every state.
“How you vote matters and it literally defines the future of not just the country, but your cities, your communities, and your people,” says Peppermint.
And as Drag PAC’s mission boldly states: diversity drives democracy.
Written by Alexandra Boulas
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