Drag Race UK star Nyongbella opens up to the Mirror in light of Trans Awareness Month this month following the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year over what constitutes as a ‘woman’
Drag Race UK star Nyongbella made waves when she appeared on the latest series of BBC’s Drag Race UK, gaining a cult following from fans for her quick humour and jaw-dropping runway looks. After gaining fame on this year’s series of the competition, the star has continued to pave her way in the world of drag, with her blossoming career looking incredibly promising.
While this year has been incredibly positive for transgender Nyongbella, who was open about her experiences during her time on Drag Race, her community has hit a difficult patch – following the Supreme Court’s ruling in April that ruled the term ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ refer to biological sex and not gender identity. Now, in light of Trans Awareness Month this November, Nyongbella has spoken with the Mirror to share her views on the ruling and how it’s left her and many others feeling, understandably, distressed.
“Trans awareness months does so much to remember how far we’ve come in terms of representation, in terms of our standing in society. But it also does so much more to build a sense of community because there’s so many people who are going through their trans identity or any kind of like gender non-confirming identity and they don’t really necessarily have a network of people – they don’t really know who to turn to, where to go, what to do, or what it means.
“I think having some like Trans Awareness Month is so important because it allows people who wouldn’t, otherwise, have access to information, or just to community, to gain community and information. So I think it’s really important in that regard as well.”
Nyongbella adds: “I do think [Trans Awareness Month is more important now than ever] so because I think having something like Trans Awareness Month is also like a great way of being celebratory. And I think with like the Supreme Court ruling, I think what it has done for a lot of people – I know for myself – it’s kind of said the quiet part out loud. Because, I think, when you’re a trans person or just like any kind of like marginalised group, you kind of are so used to that opposition that you can face.
“With the way that society’s kind of gone, we’ve come so far. I think in the 2010s we did so well to be as liberal and as inclusive as we could be. So I think we were so used to – in our marginalised communities – having maybe that one person who’d be a bit like close-minded or a bit bigoted – we were used to it being a small instance. But now with the Supreme Court ruling, it feels like that quiet minority is now loud and in the forefront.
“And it does instill a sense of worry and fear because now it feels like these people – the people who are bigoted, the people are closed-minded – it almost gives them almost like a legalised out, to kind of be like, well, ‘I’m just keeping in mind with the Supreme Court ruling so I don’t think you should be in this bathroom’ or ‘I don’t t think that you should involved in sports, so I don’t think you shouldn’t be involved in this or that’ because it’s legalised. And I think that it does leave a lot of people with a lot worry and it is very distressing.” She adds: “It’s like legitimacy to bigotry”.
“It does leave you with a sense of worry and trepidation. I’m quite fortunate that – this is always a touchy subject – but when it comes to transness you always have to talk about the concept of ‘passability’ and everything like that.
“And I think that I’m quite fortunate that I’ve been perceived as female longer in my adult life than I was perceived as male. So, for the most part, when I’m going into a bathroom I don’t have so much of a worry as some of my other trans siblings may have but it’s the sort of thing that now more than ever I am hyper-aware that if I’m going in to use a restroom or something or going into a public space it is more of a worry that, ‘Oh my gosh’ if one person stares at you a bit too long you’re like ‘oh gosh is this person going to kick up a giant fuss? Is this going to become a whole issue?’ It really does leave you with a lot of worry.
“I think especially now, with Drag Race which I’m so grateful for, I’m going to so many new territories that I’m not particularly familiar with I could be going somewhere in Wales or Scotland or going here and there. And when I’m in these new places that I have no sense of familiarity with, it’s even more of a worry.”
