Last week, a new Russian drag competition series headed by popular blogger Nastya Ivleeva premiered on YouTube. Like RuPaul’s Drag Race, the show includes lip-sync battles, extravagant costumes and outlandish comedy.
But unlike its predecessor, the series completely avoids the topic of the queer community – which is an integral part of the drag history.
In an interview with The Moscow Times, LGBTQ+ activist Nikita Andriyanov said the show has “nothing to do with the LGBT agenda in Russia”.
He also revealed that the first episode featured a disclaimer that said the series was “not aimed at former nontraditional sexual attitudes.” “The main problem lies in the silence – hence the feeling that LGBT people have never existed and that all this