‘Drag Race’ Alum Gia Gunn Comes Out Again On Transgender Day Of Visibility
Performer Gia Gunn of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame honored International Transgender Day of Visibility by coming out publicly as a transgender woman.
Publication NewNowNext reports that the Season 6 alum and occasional “messy, cheap, and manly” drag queen critic (no tea, no shade!) took to her Instagram on Friday to make the life-changing reveal to her many fans and followers.
“I thought I would dedicate today in the spirit of being visible to share my transition with all of you,” Gunn relayed in her video.
“I have been on hormone replacement therapy now for almost about a year and I identify as female. I, indeed, am transgender,” Gia confirmed.
The former Drag Race contender then thanked those who were privy to her transition beforehand and promised to use her notoriety to further promote transgender visibility.
“If you are [transitioning] or struggling with your gender identity, I want to hear from you in the comments. Let’s be visible [together]!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSUXGnBlsKR/
Gunn is now the eighth former Drag Race contestant to have transitioned from male to female either during or after their run on the World of Wonder reality series entity, now being aired on VH1 (sister Viacom network Logo previously broadcast the show).
Drag Race-rs Sonique Love of Season 2, Season 3’s Carmen Carrerra, Season 4 stars Kenya Michaels & Jiggy Caliente (now going as Bianca), and Jade Jolie & Monica Beverly Hillz of Season 5 have all preceded Gia in announcing that they, too, had transitioned which incidentally directly leads into the controversy that the show is now facing following its recent move to the more visible, by cable standards, VH1.
As noted in several reports here on the Inquisitr, other Drag Race alumni have called out both the series and VH1 for continuing to allow talk show host Wendy Williams to remain attached to the newly created, live Fierce Fridays opening of Drag Race (main recurring show judge Ross Matthews also leads the pre-show), despite more than one display of anti-gay/trans* speech being noted as coming from Williams in the not-too-distant past.
While Gia has not yet commented on the matter, her fellow Season 4 Drag Race sister Detox, who took another competition spin during All-Stars 2 in 2016, was not afraid to raise her voice in defense of Gia and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning community against Williams.
Why is she still hosting? @VH1 @Viacom @WorldOfWonder I stand with @detox #SheIsNotAnAlly https://t.co/bzvhJXEh1D
— PorkChop Parker (@PorkChopLA) March 30, 2017
“[Wendy Williams] is NOT an ally,” Detox shared on Instagram.
“She is transphobic. If anything, she is an enemy [who is] profiting off of our community.”
The queen based her strong statement from a 2009 incident involving another drag entertainer, Erickatoure Aviance, who was booted from Wendy’s studio audience for dressing “in costume,” which in Aviance’s case was a black dress and basic-looking wig.
Aviance herself reconfirmed the embarrassing interaction just recently with close friend Jonny McGovern on his YouTube talk show Hey Qween!, which is also produced by World of Wonder, the same entertainment company that created Drag Race, and went on to allow McGovern to tell another tale of a previously unreported second booting from The Wendy Williams Show that purportedly came after both Erickatoure and Jonny were invited back as an apology to make up for how they had previously been treated by Wendy show staffers.
“We were about to [start taping],” Jonny recalled, “and the [same] producer [who kicked Erickatoure out before] comes up [to me] and says, ‘your friend, Erick, is back here again in drag and we can’t let him sit in the audience.'”
Host RuPaul has also remained silent on the transgender matter, but could Gia Gunn’s announcement change that? Drag Race and Fierce Fridays returns next Friday at 8 p.m./7 c. on VH1.
[Featured Image by Gia Gunn/Instagram]
