All RuPaul’s Drag Race fans have been summoned to a mandatory meeting!
Season 16 fan-favorite queen Amanda Tori Meating has come out as trans during a Quick Drag podcast interview from Entertainment Weekly. In the interview, Amanda explained that she considered herself nonbinary years before competing on Drag Race. However, she was going through issues with her then-husband, who was seemingly not supportive of Amanda being trans.
The Drag Race star explained:
“It wasn’t at all supported by my partner, and it ended up being a big part of why I had to leave, because he didn’t want to be with a trans person. I was in a bad place about it, mentally, for a while, but you get to a point where you’re like, I have to do what’s right for me, and that involved getting out of that.”
Amanda continued, “I showed up to Drag Race in this space of, I'm going to advocate for myself, I’m going to stand up for myself, I’m not going to allow myself to be victimized in the way that I feel like I have been in the past, pre-Drag Race. [I was] in this environment for the first time where everyone’s calling me Amanda and not my government name, and realizing how good that felt, and I started to feel a bit more comfortable in the reformation of my identity.”
By the time filming on Drag Race season 16 wrapped, Amanda noticed that going back into her pre-existing reality just didn’t feel right. She recalled:
“It was kind of jarring to go from that environment where everyone is calling me Amanda and she/her-ing me, to being called by my government name again, and he/him. I was like, ‘This is very much not correct for me.’ That experience helped push me out of the nest a little bit and crack the egg.”
We really didn’t need even more reasons to stan Amanda, but seeing her speak up for herself on Drag Race and bravely come out as her more authentic self makes us fall in love with her even more. There is no denying that she’s already a superstar who is destined for even more greatness after appearing in the series.
Congratulations to Amanda Tori Meating for this huge milestone in her life!
You can listen to Amanda Tori Meating’s full episode on Quick Drag below. RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 airs every Friday on MTV.