Welcome back to the show and I
dare say no pride special would be
complete without a drag queen or two.
And lucky for me I have two fabulous
Queens joining me for hot topics
this morning on today's panel I have
Cookie Couture and Seattle Pride
community Grand Marshall geisha star,
and then of course our last
but not least panelist,
not a drag queen but also very fabulous.
My executive producer Joseph Kettner
cheers and good morning to you all cheers,
cheers, happy, planning, happy pride.
It has been remote actually.
In the last two years,
how are we feeling about it
all being back together again?
I'm excited.
Cheers with that long overdue.
Yeah I, I'm not used to wearing heels
again so did not really ease into it,
but feeling great about it.
I I by the way I wear flip flops
or flats everywhere I go and
then as soon as I get to set
the heels that's the way to go.
I mean that's the way to go.
What are you most excited
about though? For pride?
Well, I love the parade.
I think it's so fun to see everyone
together and just know that everyone
is celebrating and happy to be there.
And there's just a feeling there that
you can't really describe that you know.
Kind of just happens once a year
at the parade, and I've really
missed that over the past two years.
So that's it for me, for sure.
Yeah, I have to echo the same sentiment.
It's going to be really amazing
getting together and celebrating the
parade for the first time in so long,
myself and geisha are both involved
in the actual pride parade.
On Sundays, so it's gonna be fab.
I can't wait.
They should tell us your part in that. Yeah
so I was lucky enough to be selected
with Nikita Oliver to be one of the two
community grand marshals that was voted
by the community and and it's an honor.
After 29 years of being a member of the
LGBT community to be celebrated and to
lead the parade in the opening remarks at
Westlake Center this Sunday at 10:00 AM.
I think it's going to be really
special moment for everyone.
I'm so excited for you.
Oh my gosh all right well.
It is exciting, but some people
have been a little bit masay about.
Kind of how pride has
become commercialized.
How do we feel about that
like things like pride,
Skittles? Well for
me I I don't think it's anything new to
have pride be a little bit commercialized.
I think that we all are used to June
1st rolling around and everybody's got a
rainbow on all their packaging but for
me I guess I'm a little bit more curious
about what some of these businesses,
organizations, corporations are doing
to give back this time of year.
Besides just throwing a rainbow
on a Skittles package.
Absolutely Amen to that.
And I also said, you know.
It's positive in the sense that like young
people see all these rainbows every June.
So like for children who maybe feel like
they might be part of this community,
it's reaffirming to them that there
are other people like them out there,
but also living in capitalist America
like the fact that big business is trying
to make money off of you as a community.
I feel like that kind of says
that you have made it as a group.
Yes, that's capitalism so.
Through and I think for me it is
not just the month of June, but it's.
What are these companies doing all
year long and what is their DNI index?
And who are they giving back to?
Who are they supporting at election time?
Those are the things I think to
think about when we are paying
with our consumer dollars.
I would like to say, by the way,
these Skittles, they're all great colour.
They're all Gray because they
are giving up our rainbow so that
LGBTQ plus artists can share.
There's an actually.
There is a they're in partnership with.
Bad in the back of the bag.
So OK, alright so they passed the test,
but other companies better better take note.
So drag story time.
This has recently come under fire.
Somebody else Cookie would you like to
describe to us what drag story time
is? Yeah, of course I've participated
and been part of many drag story
times and you know they happen.
Libraries different outdoor family-friendly
pride celebrations and it's you know
it's a drag entertainer gathering.
Couple of books about things like you
know gender expression and how all
different families can look different
and getting together with a bunch of
great kids and families and sharing
those stories just in time for pride.
Yeah, so what's the problem?
What's the big idea, Joseph? Well,
I'm not a parent, but if a parent
maybe doesn't think that that is
the right venue for their child
to be learning it or whatever,
that's up to the parent.
Don't take your child to that event,
but if you are a parent that wants to,
you know have your child
experience at a young age.
And that's also great,
so I think it's you know just about
choices and letting other people you do you.
That is like my life motto.
You do you so
and I think for me,
drag is for everyone and for everywhere,
not only is it on TV and on libraries
and the nightclubs and public and events,
corporate events nowadays I think it's
great that we have venues for drag
Queens and entertainers to be able
to share their art and their craft.
And again for younger kids.
To be able to see maybe even
themselves at a young age,
it's important, you know.
Like I said earlier,
I mean it is you see rainbows everywhere.
Kids know about this.
So parents, we we do have
responsibility to talk about it.
And like you said Joseph,
you don't want to take your child there.
You don't have to.
You do you? Yeah, you do.
You one topic of conversation
though is getting a little bit more
controversy and I really don't know
where I stand on this necessarily.
World swimming has banned.
Transgender athletes from women's events.
So how do we feel about it?
I mean, it's a tough issue, right?
I the issue,
I don't wanna make a decision on.
I feel like some other
professionals should have to.
What do you all think I'm complicated.
I'm personally
just kind of tired of people
trying to police other people's
gender or other people's bodies,
and I don't know there.
There's just something kind of
icky to me about telling you know,
a trans woman that she's not allowed
to compete with other women.
She has to compete with men.
There's just something about that.
Doesn't sit right with me.
Yeah, I see that
yeah and the ruling body who came up
with the ruling said that, you know,
there's a certain level of like when
you're 12 or whatever. All those like
it comes down to the athleticism
and just the body is what
they're saying, right? Megan
Rapinoe said something really interesting.
I thought that she said if you
were seeing all these trans women
just crushing everyone you know,
then maybe it's time to rethink something.
But since we're not seeing that,
you know. You know we need to
see how it goes there. Yeah,
having publicly transitioned in
the last five years I started
my HRT and it was a definitely
a lot of body changes for me.
But I don't think you can treat.
How my body changed and how I am
versus maybe somebody that is like
Caitlyn Jenner who is an athlete
and transitioned also later in
life versus somebody that it's 11.
I think that in order for them they
should allow everyone the freedom to
transition and to compete and and
not just put us in our own category.
It's like bathroom rights.
At the end of the day,
everyone should be able to go to
the bathroom that they choose or
compete in the games they want
to compete in, make
you for your perspective.
That both of you, all of you.
So my last question is something
that cookie and I actually talked
about when we were last hanging
out together is favorite LGD LGBTQ
plus themed shows or movies.
We both agreed to Wong Foo.
Thanks for everything.
Love Julie Newmar is one of our favorites.
What about y'all?
I know we were like quoting
that movie together.
It was so fun.
I need to watch it. I know it's
Oh my gosh, you have to.
I'm really enjoying the new.
The Queerest folk reboot.
Actually, that's on. Peacock,
you know they've done so much to
really diversify the cast until
all different kinds of stories.
So that's my go to this time of
year. Yeah, I'm really enjoying
a RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.
It's like the All Stars All Stars
cast and Fisher Price came out
with these little RuPaul dolls,
which I thought were adorable
and they made them to us.
So that's fun. That's my choice.
I would say mine has been all
of the specials on Netflix.
They've got comedy specials that do
showcases in regards with different LGBT.
Comedians and I think
that that's really a fun,
safe way to educate our stories.
But at the same time,
keep it light and humorous for the season.
There you go, alright?
Well, thank you all for
sharing geisha Cookie, Joseph,
they're all sticking around
to have later in the show,
including Cookie giving me a lesson
on how to make a grand entrance.
So stick around for that.