Fans were able to honour the memory of the iconic drag queen at the event
BY BELLA FRANCIS, IMAGE BY BBC
RuPaul opened DragCon today with a tribute to late drag performer The Vivienne.
Starting out in the Scouse club circuit, The Vivienne was a multifaceted performer best known for being the inaugural winner of Drag Race UK.
Since their passing on Sunday, the drag community has offered countless tributes to the late star, with RuPaul being the latest drag personality to do so.
Speaking to the crowd at London’s ExCeL, RuPaul, who hosts Drag Race UK and US, praised The Vivienne’s passion for “love and life”.
He emphasised that, despite her passing, The Vivienne would have still wanted everyone to enjoy DragCon and all it represents, saying: “She would love for you to live your lives and to be free and to have a lot of fun and to spread it around, isn’t that right?”
Yesterday, The Vivienne’s close friend and PR manager Simon Jones echoed a similar sentiment on Instagram, asking fans attending DragCon to “Please smile and enjoy the positivity of the weekend. Viv adored drag with their whole soul and would want you all [to] continue and shine”
At RuPaul’s DragCon UK, fans are given the opportunity to meet their favourite queens from the RuPaul franchise, watch live drag performances and buy merchandise.
This year’s event is taking place on the 10-11 January at the ExCeL London.
At DragCon there was also a tribute corner where people could leave messages of love to The Vivienne, and an onstage performance by the queens of Drag Race UK season one dedicated to her.
This tribute by RuPaul comes just days after he clapbacked at Drag Race US winner Tyra Sanchez on Instagram following distasteful comments she made in response to The Vivienne’s passing.
Tyra Sanchez has been a controversial name in the drag world for a number of years, most recently infuriating drag fans by responding to a five-year-old tweet from The Vivienne mocking her death.
Fans and drag queens alike were appalled by Sanchez’s pettiness, and RuPaul issued a response.
In an Instagram video posted on the 8 January, the Drag Race host is shown pretending to slap Tyra Sanchez: a clip that was filmed during a maxi challenge on Tyra’s original run on Drag Race US.
This response particularly surprised fans, as RuPaul doesn’t often get publicly involved in controversies surrounding his show’s participants.
Many Drag Race viewers are now calling for Tyra’s Drag Race crown to be rescinded, and be handed to original runner-up Raven.
Tia Kofi, who appeared on Drag Race UK season one alongside The Vivienne, commented on RuPaul’s post: “Sorry. I’m actually raging. Mother. Give the crown to [Raven] PLEASE.”
Another Drag Race alum who shared this sentiment was Drag Race US season six contestant Vivacious, who noted that Tyra had committed “so many infractions of a title holder”.
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