Best known as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race and an outspoken advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, Michelle Visage has long used her platform to inspire, empower, and entertain.
Michelle Visage
With a career spanning music, television, and activism, she has become one of the most recognisable celebrity speakers on the global stage.
In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Michelle shares her thoughts on authentic representation, breaking stereotypes, and the powerful role drag plays in self-expression and resilience.
Q: How crucial is authentic gay representation in today’s mainstream media landscape?
Michelle Visage: “For me, it is super important for gay representation in mainstream media because we’ve spent all these years. I mean, when I was growing up, being gay in mainstream media was a parody. It wasn’t authentic.
“It was, you know, over the top caricature of what, and usually a gay man, of what a man would look like. And it was never authentic. It was never valid. It was always, you know, having a laugh for whatever reason. It was making fun of instead of including.
“So it’s super important to have authentic gay representation in mainstream media right now, whether it’s presenting or acting, gay actors actually performing, you know, gay scripted role, trans actors actually performing trans acted roles, scripted roles. These things are important to further society, further us as a whole. Playing gay — not really cool anymore.”
Q: Why do you believe breaking down gender stereotypes remains such a pressing issue?
Michelle Visage: “It’s important that gender stereotypes be tackled continuously because we’re not on top of it. We’re not understanding that there’s more to life than the binary. So it’s not for the people that are in the know.
“It’s more about educating the people that aren’t in the know or need to be educated. And it’s doing it through love and compassion and understanding instead of through hate and saying you have to accept this. I think if we explain to people what’s going on, I think they’ll be more open to it.
“There’s so much more than just male/female, boy/girl — there always has been. We’ve just never had a ballsy enough society to take ownership and to talk about it and to allow people, and allow themselves, to be who they are.”
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Q: What does true acceptance and inclusion look like—and why does it matter more than ever?
Michelle Visage: “To be accepted and to be included. It sounds really easy, but it’s not. Some people within your own race, within your own gender, within your own community, for whatever reason — usually comes down to self-loathing — for whatever reason, have a hard time accepting and including people full stop.
“A lot of women don’t accept and include other women. A lot of, you know, gay people don’t accept and include or lift each other up within the community. It’s so important that we stop that now, especially for those two groups — women and LGBTQIA+ community — because we have fought so long and so hard to be where we are now. To tear each other down and not lift each other up is doing a disservice to all of our ancestors and all the trailblazers before us.”
Q: To you, what does it really mean to be a drag queen in today’s world?
Michelle Visage: “It’s for all the people who never felt like they fit in. They have a place in drag and they have a place within the community. It’s also when you don’t feel strong enough. You know, drag is your — superheroes have capes. Drag is our superhero cape.
“So when you’re not feeling good enough, let me tell you what we do, because you know what I’m talking about. You go into the bathroom, you fix your hair up, you put a little slap on your face. For me, I’ll throw some glasses on and some hoop earrings.
“I’ll wear leopard. I’ll get my nails done. It’s all drag. RuPaul says, “We’re all born naked, and the rest is drag”. If you think about it, that’s true. It may not be drag. But if you think about it, you know, if you go to work and you’re a doctor, you put on your scrubs, you put on your stethoscope, your hat — drag. You work at Nando’s. You put on your outfit — drag.
“Anywhere you go, that’s your drag. Sometimes, for me, I just feel lousy. And then I go into the bathroom, I’ll pick up a powder brush, and I’ll start, and it’s like, okay, a little bit more. A little bit more. Next thing you know, wearing full blue mascara, full blue eyeliner. It’s like, that’s my drag today. And I have the gym.
“I have a dance class, and I’m not gonna take it off, because sometimes you need that pick-me-up, especially when you’re in a worldwide pandemic. Put on all the colours in your closet at the same time. Do something you never thought you’d do. That’s drag. And drag just picks you up and makes you feel good. And that’s the power of it. It is such a strong power.
“That’s why these kids on RuPaul’s Drag Race are superheroes — they’re so powerful. Their drag is moving. Their drag is enlightening. Their drag is challenging. That’s the beauty of it all. And that’s what drag means to me.”
This exclusive interview with Michelle Visage was conducted by Megan Lupton of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
