The Daily Show: Ears Edition - BenDeLaCreme on Anti-LGBTQ Bills & the Drag Defense Fund

Episode Date: March 25, 2023

"I am acting this gay no matter what happens around me." BenDeLaCreme, star of "RuPaul’s Drag Race," discusses how limiting access to drag and LGBTQ+ spaces won't limit queerness in children, how drag performers have historically uplifted and fought for the queer community, and the ACLU's Drag Defense Fund.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Welcome. I have no idea. This is so, this is so lovely. I didn't know the audience was going to go so crazy. I didn't know what would happen after Lindsay Graham. I didn't know what would happen after Lindsay Graham. Before we get into these anti-drag bills that are popping up around the country, I think there are a lot of people objecting to drag without even having any idea what it is. and I think there are a lot of people objecting to drag without even having any idea what it is.

And I know I've never, I've ever gone to a drag show and can you explain Dread? Absolutely. Yeah, well somebody just was shocked that you've never been to a drag show. Have you? Have you? But it's so? I'm embarrassed. No, no, no. It's not shocking that you've never been to a show that you would think of as a drag show, but you've probably th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their their their their th. their their the their thra their thra their their thra thra their thra their thra to to to to to to not shocking that you've never been to a show that you would think of as a drag show, but you've probably seen Mrs. Doubtfire

or Tutsi or any of those, you know, things that we have... I didn't realize they were in drag. Well, that's some very convincing costuming. You know, so so drag is something that's been part of the culture for a very long time in a lot of different ways. And so there's many types of it that we've sort of been accepting in contemporary culture like those examples. But you know, it's something that harkens back to, we see it in Shakespeare, we see it in Kabuki theater, across cultures. It's something that has just been innate and unquestioned for a long time. But within American American history, the American history, the American history, the American history, their drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag drag, thagu. thague, th, th, thi, thi, thi, that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that, that, that that, that, th, th, th, thquestioned for a long time. But within American history, I mean,

drag is something that has uplifted and protected and fought for the queer community, pre-Stonewall. I mean, pre-Stonewall era, queer people had to congregate in clubs and bars. That was the one place that they could sort of find community and find togetherness and feel safe even though there were constantly police raids on those places. And drag queens, trans women were the entertainers, were the matriarchs, were the people who fostered this community. And when Stonewall, which was the alleged beginning of the gay rights movement,

when it rolled around, they were the folks who really started the riot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. On drag race, you sing. You work the runway, you create and perform your own variety show. It's just all the things that I do, except the runway and the singing. Except the runway and the... Singing. Well, you're in good company with drag queens. runway and the singing.

Well, you're in good company with drag queens not being especially good singers, so that's fine. And you and I can work on your runway, so. Thank you, thank you. And you, you direct and you write and produce a 70 minute show, drag shows, right? Different ones, right? Yeah, so I do a lot of different stuff

that's more in the theatrical realm. So some of them are evening length plays, as you would more traditionally know. Some of them are cabarets with through lines. And that's another thing about drag is that it's so many things. A lot of people think of it as what we know it as from reality TV right now, which is largely lip-sinking and big dance movements, which is really exciting,

but there's also a full history of the theater and a lot of other disciplines. So my shows are shows that are essentially a love letter to the queer community to folks who need to feel a sense of hope and sense of generosity. Specifically I do a holiday show with my good friend Jinks Monsoon and we've been touring that for, this will be our sixth year. I'm not announcing it, but it's our sixth year coming up. And that show is very much rooted in the idea that...

That's a Christmas show. It's a Christmas show, yes. So we do it every November and December. And that came about because of just really seeing the need among queer young people and queer adults to feel a sense of family and homecoming at a time of year where it can have a lot of messaging that we don't feel included in. There's many people who have strained relationships with their families.

And so this show is a message of, and you know, and it's body and it's funny and there's big sparkly dances, but it's at its heart about coming together and making people realize that your future can be whatever you want it to be, your traditions can be what you want them to be, and you can be who you want to be. Yes. They're what? Okay. Speaking about being who you want to be, let's tod to be to be the to be the the to be the the to be the the to be the the the the to be the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their thi, their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their thi. thi. thate. And, thate. And, thateateat, theateateat, theateateat..... And, theateateate. And, the. And, to be, let's talk about Tennessee. It's the first, I state I think, to explicitly ban.

It's the first, I state, I think, to explicitly ban. It's first place that it passed. Yes. Yeah. And in public places where minors are or something like that. What's your, but now it's happening all over the place, right? This is some new thing they've invented. I'm sure that most of the Republicans who are, they find stuff every once in a while to go after. And so I bet you most of them don't know what this is about at all, have any idea. There's things I don't, you know, I don't actually, I've never gone to NASCAR.

I don't know, I know what it's about. There's a lot of stuff I don't go to. But what is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. they's they's they's thi. they' they're they're thi. they're thi. they're they're they're they're they're, I've they' they' they' they' they' they' they' they' they' they' they' they' they'er. And I'er. And I'er. And I'er. And I'er. And I' There's a lot of stuff I don't go to. But what is this about? What is their thing about? Yeah, I mean, what is this about is kind of the biggest question. Because it's all so vague. These bills are terrifying because the language is so open-ended. And they are, and a lot of, and you're also exactly right, that a lot of these these these these people these people these people these people the the the the, the, the, the, thiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, and you're also exactly right, that a lot of these people don't

really understand what drag shows are, and they don't have to, because this is all sort of coded language for an attack on the LGBTQIA plus community. And the wording of this bill talks about drag as adult entertainment, which is insidious within itself to say that someone dressing this way is only appropriate for adults when they're not doing anything that's adult-oriented. And it also talks about them not being able to do it within range of where a minor could see, right? Which means no pride parades, no outdoor pride events.

But it also means things like, no outdoor pride events, but it also means things like what if the window is viewable from the sidewalk in a drag bar? I mean it's all so subjective and it's all so open to interpretation that they can really kind of go wherever they want with it, not to mention the fact that the bill defines this as this adult entertainment, or adult cabaret, as men or women dressing as the, doing male or female impersonation. And that within itself is also something that,

who is interpreting this, Bill Lee, who gets to decide whether he in a cheerleader skirt counts or not, you know? Is he, who's Bill Lee? So he is the, what he's the one who, the governor who, the photo surfaced of, no he's the one who was passing all these laws. And the photo surfaced of him in high school dressed as a cheerleader at some sort of high school event. And everyone started pointing this out and saying this is pretty hypocritical. And he said, no, no, no, that doesn't count. That is not of a prurient nature. That is not lude.

This other, and so he has decided that he is the person who gets to decide these things. Oh, no, cheerleader outfits have never been considered tha se se se se se se se se sea, thi. th thi, th thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, that, that that that that that that that thi, that, that that that, that, that, that, that, that, thi, thi, thi, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. that, no. th. th. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no. that, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. that, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. that, no, no. that that that that all. Wow. But by that definition even though most of us in 2023 understand that trans women are women and trans men are men, there... This bill can be interpreted any number of ways and so if someone is enforcing this who doesn't believe that, who is to say that that trans person walking down the street in public, if I viewed them as a mailer female impersonator and they're within the eyesight of a child,

well, then they're breaking the law by walking at the grocery store. That's terrifying. When I was, and we talked about this a little bit. When I was in the Senate, we were reforming No Child Left Behind, which didn't work very well. And I had a piece in it called the Student Non-Discrimination Act that would protect LGBT kids, Q+, kids, who would give them the same rights as were given to other kids, you know, race and gender. And I went to a colleague, a Republican colleague, who was a friend of mine, and asked him

to sponsor this. And what what you could do is if a kid was being bullied for being LGBTQ they could go to the principal, go to super tennis schools and if they didn't get any that they could sue. They could sue just like the other kids I was talking about. And... They could sue just like the other kids I was talking about. And this senator said to me, oh if they could do that, they'll just act more gay. Oh, well first of all. And I said, I said no. I said no. I don't want to say his name.

I said no and he goes, oh you watch. Well I hope he's watching right now and knows that I am acting this gay no matter what happens around it. But... But... Well, kid, kids in school... kids in school, LGBT kids in school, I have great absentee, there's all kinds of bullying, obviously, and this would really have great absentee. There's all kinds of bullying, obviously, and this would really have helped kids.

No, absolutely. From my personal experience, I grew up in a small town in Connecticut. I was very, very flamboyant and myself from a very young age. And I was identified by other people as queer before I even understood how to do that myself. And I was mercilessly bullied in school. And I went to my vice principal, who told me that I should probably tone it down to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to toe toe toe toe toe toe the toe the the their, their, toe, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, I their, I their, their, their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their toe.. I. I'm toe. I'm toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. the their their their their to my vice principal who told me that I should probably tone it down a little. So, thank you for working on that. I mean, it's... I, uh, it was terribly frustrating. And the idea that children are somehow going to be made more queer by access to queer culture. I mean I

was very queer without any access and when I finally found drag which is where it you know it was not like oh that's a cool job I want to do that when I grow up it was there's a container for who I am there's something out there for me and that saved my life. I mean, suicide rates among queer kids, and suicidal ideation is more than half of trans and non-binary kids have suicidal ideation, which when I heard that statistic, I was like, that seems low,

because every queer person I know has thought about suicide in their youth. And I barely made it out of my childhood, but I did because I had a little bit of the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, made it out of my childhood, but I did because I had a little bit of access to this glimpse of a world outside that would accept me for who I am and not just in spite of who I am, but because of who I am. Thank you. Thank you.

And I'm going to come. I'm going to start saying'm going to start seeing some. You, you can support the ACLU's work by donating at the link below. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcast. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.