Television
'Drag Race U.K.'s Bimini Comes Out as Nonbinary, Shares Failed Reveal
"TRANS RIGHTS FOREVER AND ALWAYS!"
January 22 2021 3:51 AM EST
November 04 2024 9:43 AM EST
MikelleStreet
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"TRANS RIGHTS FOREVER AND ALWAYS!"
On the latest episode of RuPaul's Drag Race U.K., things didn't go how competitor Bimini Bon Boulash hoped. After landing in the bottom two and being forced to lip-sync in the season premiere, the East London-based queen had a bit of a comeback in Rats: The Rusical. But when they hit the runway, a conceptual look that was meant to be a coming out moment didn't go off as planned.
"This is how I envisioned I would have looked," Boulash, one of the show's remaining performers, wrote to Twitter on Thursday after the episode. "As a nonbinary bad bitch, I wanted to celebrate the beauty of trans and nonbinary. TRANS RIGHTS FOREVER AND ALWAYS!"
\u201cThis is how I envisioned I would have looked! As a non binary bad bitch I wanted to celebrate the beauty of trans and non-binary. \nTRANS RIGHTS FOREVER AND ALWAYS! \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f \u26a7\u201d— B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce (@B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce) 1611263709
\u201cFLY THE FLAG HIGH BABY!\nBring trans is to be yourself and being yourself is beautiful \ud83d\udc93\nTrans rights are human rights. Don\u2019t ever forget it! \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\u201d— B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce (@B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce) 1611305676
On the runway, the vegan performer wore a sculpted blonde wig and a matching corset. The corset had black balloons attached to it that she popped. While they were supposed to splatter, dousing the corset in the colors of the trans pride flag -- pink, white, and blue -- the reveal didn't work out. In the episode, where she wound up safe due to her standout performance in the Rusical that channeled English singer Keith Charles Flint, she mentioned that the look was inspired by Alexander McQueen. While she didn't clarify which McQueen look inspired it specifically, it may have been her version of the Spring 1999 show when robotic arms sprayed Shalom Harlow, who was wearing a white dress, on the runway. In 2012, the U.S. version of Drag Race had contestants recreate that performance in a mini-challenge.
Boulash's bio on Twitter stipulates their pronouns are they/them.
"Fly the flag high baby!" Boulash wrote in another tweet. "[Being] trans is to be yourself and being yourself is beautiful. Trans rights are human rights. Don't ever forget it!"
Boulash joins a growing cohort of Drag Race competitors that have come out as nonbinary including All Stars season five winner Shea Coulee and Drag Race season nine winner Sasha Velour.
\u201cMy idea was originally to paint my body in the colours of the trans* flag because I wanted to celebrate the beauty of being Trans and non-binary. As a person that identifies as fluid when it comes to gender.\u201d— B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce (@B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce) 1611261738
\u201cThe existence of Trans and Non-Binary people has been a hot topic in the UK media lately, often being debated without taking in lived experiences of someone that identifies as trans or non-binary.\u201d— B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce (@B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce) 1611261786
"I've experienced a lot of mental abuse, as well as physical abuse over the years due to my gender expression," Boulash wrote. "To be trans is to be yourself and being yourself is beautiful. We need to learn to love, celebrate and protect each other from all forms of oppression and hatred."
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Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.