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Pride Month may be ending soon, but the celebration continues with Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest. Written and created by Michelle Buteau, the new dramedy series premieres on July 13 and is a fantastic celebration of queerness, Blackness, and the intersectionality of both. We had a chat with Buteau’s co-star, Peppermint, about her drag career and how shows like Survival of the Thickest differ from the TV she grew up watching.
Peppermint Looks Back on Her Drag Origins
When Peppermint started her career 30 years ago, she performed in clubs and bars in New York City. Being openly queer, let alone a trans woman, in 1993 wasn’t really an option. Inside dimly lit clubs, surrounded by queer friends on the dance floor, Peppermint found solace under the spotlight.
“Drag can be really liberating,” Peppermint shared with Mashable. For her, putting on heels and a sequined dress wasn’t just about lip-syncing; it was a way to express herself in the gender that felt right. While some performers become entirely different people in drag, Peppermint used it as a way to get closer to her true self.
Peppermint made history during Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2017 as the first openly trans queen in the competition. Since then, her success has expanded beyond drag, including originating a principal role on Broadway and advocating for trans rights.
Peppermint Blurs the Lines Between Drag and Glam
Peppermint isn’t just a drag queen – she’s always been a performer at heart. In Survival of the Thickest, alongside the fabulous Buteau, she challenges the distinction between her onstage persona and private life offstage.
“People who knew me before I did drag still call me Peppermint,” she explains. The moniker represents both sides of herself – the artist in the spotlight and the person behind the scenes. The blending of glam and drag in her persona reflects the mainstream acceptance of drag techniques in beauty and entertainment industries.
“There’s a million and one options and places where people can find queer content,” Peppermint shared. But she recalled when those options were much more limited. “I remember watching Melrose Place, and they were advertising, ‘There’s going to be a gay kiss, a gay moment, tune in for this.’ And [we did], but they got cold feet, so when these two guys went in for a kiss, they cut to someone looking shocked. They didn’t show the kiss, but they inferred it. And it was like, ‘Oh, God. That’s what we get. There’s our crumbs.’”
Even though they never showed the kiss on Melrose Place, it was still a scandal. And it was those kinds of scandals that paved the way for the type of entertainment we have today.
“It’s incredible to see such a wide array of shows that include queer stories,” Peppermint said. “Maybe not necessarily queer-centric shows, because there’s still a growing amount of those, but even then, it’s mind-boggling to know that there are so many queer stories you don’t even know about happening on TV these days.”
Peppermint wants you to examine capitalism.
While there is greater queer representation on TV, the LGBTQ community is still under attack. Notably, the trans community has been subject to a growing number of anti-trans bills aimed at making everything from transitioning to existing while trans harder.
“We are facing a series of attacks that have several prongs, and have many different levels and layers,” Peppermint said of this political battle. “People need to find a way to connect with a leftist, not democratic, ideology that can examine capitalism.”
“I know, I’m in entertainment. There’s almost nothing more capitalist than that,” Peppermint continued. “But when we’re talking about the rights of marginalized identities, people being legislated against in droves, [being fed] lies and propaganda, all to sell and cement [bigoted] laws and policies into place, then we have to look at the structure we have, which is capitalism, and this patriarchy [that works hand-in-hand].
“We need to examine those things, and how we fit into them. We get all up in arms about something Beyoncé is doing on her new album or concert, but then don’t say anything about trans rights when our laws are being stricken down state by state by state.”
Drag was how Peppermint found herself and found fame. Now, she’s using that platform to advocate for her community.
“The gift of gay rights and equality is not going to be something that’s just tweeted to you overnight,” she said. “You have to actually do the work. Whether that means voting, whether that means marching, whether that means speaking with your family incessantly. It doesn’t necessarily mean fighting, but leading with empathy and availing yourself of new content that isn’t just fed to you by whatever [algorithm] you’re on.”
Survival of the Thickest premieres on Netflix on July 13.
