Michelle Visage opens up about her sexuality: ‘Gender never mattered to me’
Michelle Visage has been a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race since 2011. (Santiago Felipe/Getty)
RuPaul’s Drag Race star Michelle Visage has opened up about her sexuality, saying that while gender has “never really mattered” to her, she still doesn’t identify as queer.
The singer and presenter, who has served as a permanent judge on Drag Race since season three of the US edition back in 2011, was asked if she considers herself a part of the queer community in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
Michelle Visage, who has had sexual experiences with men and women in the past, explained: “I never looked at it that way.”
The BBC Radio 2 presenter continued: “I always felt that it would be rude to bisexuals [to claim queer status], because I’ve never had a relationship with a woman.
“Sexual relationships, but never relationships. If you want to look at it in a broader picture, probably. But gender never really mattered to me.
“It was just, like, ‘I think you’re hot.’ Simple as that.”
Michelle Visage previously claimed that bisexuality ‘wasn’t really a thing’ when she was growing up
Elsewhere in the interview, Michelle Visage opened up about being sexually adventurous in her youth, saying she wishes she could tell her younger self to “value” her body more.
“We always joke on Drag Race about me being a slag. All of that is actually true,” Visage said.
“I don’t get tormented by it, but it was my weapon of choice. Being an adopted kid, it was about my sense of being wanted.
“The way I felt wanted was to make every boy or girl I fancied want me. If I’d valued myself a little bit more, I would’ve realised that I’m worth so much more than a one-night stand.”
Michelle Visage, who first rose to fame as a member of girl group Seduction in the late ’80s, has been open about her past sexual relationships with women – but she has always been adamant that she doesn’t identify as bisexual.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2020, Visage claimed bisexuality “wasn’t really a thing” when she was growing up New Jersey.
“It was just if I saw a pretty girl and I was attracted to her, why not?” she said.
The star admitted that identifying as bisexual might help to calm LGBT+ critics, some of whom have argued that her judging slot on Drag Race should be held by a queer person.
“It would be easier, but I don’t feel like the easy way out is always the right way,” she said.
“I don’t want to take anything away from somebody who’s truly living a bisexual lifestyle.”
