‘The View’ Co-Host Sara Haines Says ‘Everyone Belongs At A Drag Show’

 “The View” co-host Sara Haines said she thinks “everyone belongs at a drag show” while speaking with drag queen RuPaul.

During the ABC talk show on Tuesday, Haines asked RuPaul Charles about legislation in multiple states targeting drag performances, like in Tennessee, that outlaws adult cabaret male or female impersonators from performing “nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse” on public property.

Throughout the segment, none of the co-hosts said the bans are intended to protect children, and such performances could still occur in age-restricted venues under the law.

“This is all happening while simultaneously we’re watching some places in this country ban drag shows,” Haines said. “Now I want to know your thoughts because to me one of the things that appeals about a drag show and often the community is this is a community that took time to find clarity.”

“To see themselves, to be authentic when it wasn’t one of the actors on the stage,” she added. “They had to pave their own way. So, I have always found that everyone belongs at a drag show.”

“What do you think of this?” Haines continued, as she turned the question to RuPaul, who replied, “You’re born naked and the rest is drag.”

“Everybody is playing a role, everyone one,” the host of RuPaul’s Drag Race said. “You know it. When you get out of the shower you put on your in drag, right?”

“So here’s the thing, art doesn’t have to explain itself,” RuPaul added. “Drag is art. Drag pokes fun at that stage play. It’s there to remind you not to take yourself too seriously…And the people who want to go up against all that are afraid of our light…That is the anecdote to all of this negativity.”

 

Co-host Joy Behar interjected and suggested the reason she thought there was a call to ban drag shows was because “they are jealous” because they “see you having so much fun,” without explaining who “they” were.

Whoopi Goldberg, another co-host, added, “You can ban the drag shows but you aren’t coming to my house and turning the TV off now are you?”