A staunch Bernie Sanders supporter in the Democratic primaries of both 20, Bunny has thrown her social media weight behind everything from abolishing super PACs and corporate funding to electoral campaigns to defunding the police in the wake of the recent Black Lives Matter protests initiated by the murder of George Floyd. It’s in these more self-reflective moments that it’s possible to see the other side of Lady Bunny, whose close-to-the-bone humor is always undercut by more nuanced political analysis. If we do something that’s downloadable, everyone can enjoy it all over the world.” We don’t even have to be in the same city or country. ![]() “But maybe we don’t have to be in the same room with our fans. “Drag queens, like 80% of the country, often live paycheck to paycheck, and our fans realize that we don’t have anymore paychecks coming in for the foreseeable future,” she adds. COVID is there for absolutely everyone to catch, just from touching your face.” While she resists being labeled as something of a figurehead for the New York drag scene (“the New York drag community thinks of me as what I am: a nut,” she laughs), she is more philosophical when it comes to the profound impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the future of queer nightlife. “There are parallels, but there were specific and more difficult ways to contract the HIV virus, whether through intravenous drug use or anal sex. Consequently, Bunny’s DIY attitude to drag is now underappreciated by an international fanbase that-largely as a result of the runaway success of RuPaul’s Drag Race-expects their queens to be polished, glossy, and ready to serve a runway-worthy look (or death drop) on cue. Her no-bullshit politics and subversive humor wouldn’t cut the mustard on national television, but for many drag purists, it represents the heart of what drag is all about. Where RuPaul Charles has reached international ubiquity thanks in part to his quotable platitudes about self-love, as well as his knack for translating the world of drag into something more digestible for the mainstream, Lady Bunny has taken an alternative route. “I’m a people person, and we can’t really see people right now-but I can still type at them!” Well, indeed. Once we link, I ask simply: How are you doing? “Oh, just the usual weekday, arguing on social media with people I don’t know,” she replies in her trademark Tennessee drawl, followed by a shriek of laughter. On a balmy Wednesday afternoon, I sit down and gear up my laptop to talk to Lady Bunny over Zoom.
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