Harvard appoints drag star LaWhore Vagistan as a visiting professor – and right-wingers are furious

Harvard University’s decision to appoint a drag queen named LaWhore Vagistan has enraged right-wing bigots.

The Ivy League university announced it had hired the drag performer, known out of drag as Kareem Khubchandani, to give lectures as part of its Studies of Gender and Sexuality program.

The performance artist and researcher holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology, as well as a Master’s degree and PhD in performance studies from Northwestern university. His research focuses on the intersection between queer nightlife, global politics, ethnography, the South Asian diaspora, and drag.

At least seven academic journals, including the Journal of Asian American Studies and Scholar and Feminist Online, have published Khubchandani’s work.

His persona, LaWhore Vagistan, has been widely commended as “everyone’s favourite South Asiain academic auntie” who brings the “nightclub to the classroom.”

Under the FO Matthiessen Visiting Professorship of Gender and Sexuality, he will bring his decades-long experience performing and researching drag to Harvard’s program, to two subjects, “Queer Ethnography” and “RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire,” over the spring and autumn semester.

The professorship is named after the late gay Harvard professor, F.O. Matthiessen.

Upon hearing the news that Harvard University planned to appoint a drag artist to give lectures on drag, the usual peddlers of right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ nonsense came out the woodwork to express their disapproval.

Hundreds of social media users on X.com immediately began to fling homophobic abuse towards the artist, and Harvard officials, for a program they perceived to be without merit.

Contrary to their beliefs, Khubchandani’s educational background is far from useless. He is the author of two books, Decolonise Drag and Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife.

His next book, Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties, debuts in October 2025. Harvard University says his lectures will highlight his work for the book.

Right-wing Republicans, including US president Donald Trump, have continually attacked Harvard for what they perceive as “woke” teaching practices.

In April, Trump cut billions of dollars in federal funding for the university after it defied requests to scrap diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) policies.