America's first drag queen superstar
RuPaul Charles, host of cabler Logo's RuPaul's Drag Race, has
applauded Apple CEO Tim Cook's coming out, saying, “Do your thing.”
In a wide-ranging interview with
Engadget.com,
RuPaul was asked to weigh in on Cook's October announcement, which
made him the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
“You work in the entertainment
industry, specifically the drag world where sexuality is part and
parcel... the fluidity of sexuality. But in the tech industry, that's
not so much the case. You're not really dealing with gender identity
and sexuality. And it seemed as though Cook was being forced out of
the glass closet. Did you find his 'coming out' necessary? Why are we
still doing that to people? And does it have an impact, him doing
this?” the site's Joseph Volpe asked.
RuPaul answered “gender and sexuality
are huge in every aspect” because “it dictates so much of how we
behave in our culture.”
“You know, [such as] how people
present themselves,” RuPaul said. “We see two people in the
newspaper and they're kissing and they just happen to be straight. We
just take it for granted that that's just the norm. You know, people
talk about equality in our culture, and it's based on a kindergarten
primary idea of what fairness and equality is. But it doesn't get
updated as we get older.”
“I've always looked at the world as
an alien,” RuPaul continued. “And I've always thought it was all
so strange. You know, [if] somebody who's straight behaves a certain
way, nobody bats an eyelash. But if a gay person does the exact same
thing, people are like, 'Oh my god. It's revolutionary!' [But] it's
the exact same thing! And the same is true in any business. Gender
plays a huge role in how we see people, how we interpret what they
say, whether we know it or not. Most people don't know it. So I
applaud him. I think, 'Right on!'”