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While conservatives try to ban drag queens from performing and trans people from existing, Biblegirl has been working hard at a collaboration with Target that connects drag and the LGBTQ+ community to one of the largest retailers in the United States.
“I started DragQueenMerch.com as a fan of drag, before I was a career drag queen whatsoever,” Biblegirl tells Out. “When I told everyone what my game plan was in terms of how I wanted to approach drag, my grandma had asked, ‘All right, let’s go for it. But how are you going to make a living out of it?’” Sadly, this fierce and wise grandmother passed away in October 2022, but her advice is still driving Biblegirl’s entrepreneurial spirit ever since that first conversation.
“As I was attending drag shows as a fan, the [queens approached] merchandising like indie rock bands had touring merchandise booths and stuff,” she recalls. “Seeing as a forecast that drag was going to hit an even more mainstream point, to the point that we are at now, I knew that there was going to be a necessity to expand one way or another.”
Growing up, Biblegirl’s father worked in the world of licensing for artists like Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, and even Pokémon, which inspired her to be interested in merchandising and graphic design. She reflects, “As an artistic kid, seeing him design things in Photoshop in the nineties, I was always just really intrigued by [it]. I always say that it was like drawing pictures with technology. That was something that fascinated me. So, I learned that at a really young age because of my dad.” Nowadays, a lot of the designs sold on DragQueenMerch come straight from Biblegirl’s brain, as someone with a deep understanding of what consumers are looking for.
In 2023, DragQueenMerch is launching a landmark collection with Target for Pride Month, and it doesn’t go without saying that such a large retailer should be praised for approaching a queer-owned small business to collaborate instead of borrowing from LGBTQ+ culture without having any queer people behind the scenes.
“It was really exciting when we had been approached with the opportunity,” Biblegirl explains. “We were really aspirational to make sure we were engaged with communication and [had] as much first-party involvement as possible, to make sure that things pertaining to the rosters, such as representation, were not neglected.” To her delight, Biblegirl dealt with a team at Target that was “run by a queer leader, a queer parent, and a fan of drag,” adding: “She understood our message, our method, and strategy, in how to approach this was going to be.”
The Target collaboration with DragQueenMerch features merch from RuPaul’s Drag Race stars like Shea Couleé, Adore Delano, Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté, Kennedy Davenport, Jan, and Luxx Noir London. Oh, and Biblegirl herself, of course.
Though she has absolutely forged her own path in the world of drag – and constantly jokes about being the winner of every single season of RuPaul’s Drag Race – one question remains: would Biblegirl ever actually consider competing on Drag Race?
“Of course, yeah,” Biblegirl replies. “It’s something that, because it’s so present at all times in the cultural zeitgeist, I don’t know that those thoughts or those aspirations necessarily go away. On that same note, I feel that where I am in my niche and my avenue, I’m very content. I really feel that if I were to go away for six weeks, the wheels might fall off a little bit. So, I got to look out for me and my own as well.”
And yet, not all hope it lost for Drag Race fans who fantasize about seeing Biblegirl on the show. “It’s not anything that I've ever taken off of the table,” she adds. “I love the idea of it. I think it would be really funny to see how the judging panel would interpret my fashion and painting, that’s for sure.”
Watch Out’s full interview with Biblegirl below – and make sure to check out the DragQueenMerch collection now available on Target.com.
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