I'm so excited right now.
I'm fangirling ******** so
might be getting a little hot.
You may recognize our next guest as the
winner of season nine of Ru Paul's drag race.
But now Sasha Velour is not just
an international drag superstar,
she's also an author.
Her new book is called The Big Reveal
and she joins me now to tell me.
What it's all about this is so.
I mean, first of all,
fabulous, fabulous.
We didn't know we were going to
be color coordinating perfect,
perfect and
a little sunshine in the
fashion on this rainy day.
Seriously, it is such an
honor to have you here.
Honored to be being here.
What is this new book?
Have you always wanted to be an author?
Tell me about how this got started.
It's right here. Yes,
it's right here.
I don't know if I've always
dreamed about being an author,
but I always dreamed about finding
a history of drag that could speak
to the legacy of this art form,
the political importance of it
to the queer community.
And since that book didn't exist,
I started doing this research
and compiling what I found.
And I wanted to write it
down to share with people.
And I felt like this is needed.
Absolutely. And you've done
the illustrations in here.
I mean, walk me through all of
that. Well, before I was a
full time drag performer, I
had my day job as a book designer.
So I have a passion for the technical
sides of books and they at Harper,
they let me come up with the cover design,
some of the interior elements and
then all the art and illustration.
So I had a lot of fun putting my own little.
Signature flourishes into the book itself.
Oh my gosh, absolutely incredible.
And I know it's been six years since,
you know, you were on Ru Paul's
drag race, but for that experience,
it was, it was an incredible experience.
They opened so many doors for me to be
able to share my story with the world.
The reason I get to be here today is
because of that and write this book.
And I hope that I can just use that
platform to reach people, to share that.
Queer and trans people are part
of the fabric of the world,
and drag belongs on the world
stage and is for everyone to enjoy
and get a little inspiration and
hope from in these trying times.
Absolutely.
And tonight you have a show at the
Neptune for everyone if they don't know.
So what can people expect if
they head out there tonight?
Oh my gosh, I don't
want to give too many spoilers, but
we've got lots of exciting surprises.
It's there's some readings from the books.
Some discussions with we have Kitten and Lou,
who are Seattle drag royalty,
as special guests tonight,
and then I'm giving lots of reveal
performances and surprises for people
because we call it the big reveal.
I got to rip some costumes off and
reveal some secrets underneath
and I know it's going to be amazing
outfits and obviously it's so
entertaining tonight, absolutely amazing.
And so how did you get started in drag?
Oh my gosh, I have been doing
drag since I was a little child.
I thought I had invented it,
but I was the only little kid in the world
who wanted to put on gowns and makeup
and wigs and discovering that I wasn't.
That this is something that's totally normal.
And a lot of people love
to play with dress up.
A lot of people love to traverse the gender
binary and and explore what's beyond.
It gave me a strength that I desperately
needed to become my most happy self. And
we discussed, you know,
how supportive, you know, your,
your parents were your mom and dad.
So can you speak on that at all
and just that support and what
that has meant to you. Growing up,
I was so lucky to have my dad, who's
given himself the nickname pop of velour,
taking my chosen name.
He was the guest of the the debut
performance that launched the book
just three days ago in San Francisco.
And he's a, you know, an old hippie.
And I'm so grateful that.
He was accepting.
They didn't try to force me to be anything.
They just let me discover who I am.
And I know that's what all young people need.
And I I feel very, very lucky.
And I also want to share
that family with the world.
For the people who don't have that
support and say this is what family is,
is should be all about,
just unconditional support,
maybe a little bit of shade,
a little judgment from a
place of love and acceptance.
That's what family's all about,
too. And do you have any
thoughts on the antidrag legislation
going on, to speak on that,
how you've had this great support,
but you know, what is the support then
with all of this happening now, right,
of course the antidrag legislation
is connected to fears about queer and
trans people off stages in real life.
I think it's because people overwhelmingly
are supportive of queer and trans people.
And so there's a very small group that is.
Afraid of what that means and trying
to push back against everyone's rights.
But I feel confident that we will
continue to exist and that we're
only going to take steps forward.
So as a community we can be strong,
we can share our resources and support
those who are affected most by these laws,
and we're going to continue battling
them and make sure there's liberation for
queer people, equality for all people,
regardless of how you choose to dress.
I love it. You are absolutely incredible.
And back to the book.
What was your favorite part about
writing this book or researching?
I mean, did anything surprise you
while you were researching this book?
I I was really surprised finding
examples of drag going back to
the earliest forms of theater,
going back to the Mesolithic age.
I traced the full history
across the world in this book,
but I also was surprised,
going through my own childhood,
finding just how much I was.
A gender fluid person from
the second I was born.
Finding drawings of myself as a girl,
as a boy,
as a bat. And I just hope I
can, you know, stay true to that
little person because we all
we know who we are very early.
We just got to stick to our guns.
I love it. Anything else you want to
say about the show tonight or just,
you know, anyone watching that maybe
you know looks to you as inspiration?
For anyone watching who
needs a little inspiration,
I just want to say that we
got this as a community,
no matter what people say,
we are gorgeous, we're having fun,
and we're going to we're
going to keep surviving.
You are absolutely incredible.
What an inspiration. Iconic.
OK. And remember, you can catch
Sasha's show tonight, Monday,
April 10th at 8:00 PM at the Neptune.
So head to her website
for ticket information.