Now in fourth year, the annual launch of LGBTQ Herstory Month at RuPaul’s Drag Race has become an annual display of queer excellence, and celebration of the important figures that have impacted history and culture; the October 2024 launch was no exception. This year, in the wake of Season 16’s Nymphia Wind’s triumphant win, the aim was to honor the Asian Excellence that has been a part of the show since the very beginning. From Raja becoming the first Asian American winner back in Season 3, to Plastique Tiara’s revered performance in the most recent All Stars, the assembly of queen talent would be the best yet to both entertain with the stunning photography as well as educate about queer history. Using a behind-the-scenes approach, the trailblazing queens themselves would honor Asian and queer heroes like Margaret Cho and Joel Kim Booster, highlight the work these figures do in entertainment as well as in the world of activism. A major goal was to take the learnings of the previous year and build on its success to rollout an even more successful version in 2024. Most importantly, we wanted to educate and inspire younger fans of the show with this incredibly unique and powerful social multimedia stunt.
From simply a logistical standpoint, this project is challenging in the sheer amount of content we are able to capture in a relatively small window of time. Gathering these six top-tier performers into the same room, on the same schedule, is as difficult as it sounds, but all came together because they believed in the inherent good of the project. The team was fortunate to find a location, The Hollywood Roosevelt, that was not only supportive of this project, but visually cinematic and reminded all of us that this stunt was about honoring history in order to progress into a better future. We partnered once again with a favorite queer photographer of ours, Erik Carter, who successfully shot unique backgrounds for all six queens plus various backgrounds for the iconic group shot as well. Mastering the schedule of this was a learning from 2023’s execution, which led to an even more successful go around for 2024. And then of course the video interviews led to incredibly moving and compelling moments like Kahmora Hall speaking to the important power of voting, Raja celebrating her grandmother, a famous Indonesian actress, and Nymphia celebrating her home county Taiwan, amongst many other moments. Other queens participating included Canada Season 1 Winner Priyanka as well as Jujubee, an early influence for many of the queens participating, dating from her first entry into the public zeitgeist back in Season 2. Any Drag Race superfan will tell you how stacked this group is and the power they render in the community simply by being their authentic selves. Together, this culmination of elements would lead to an immensely successful launch upon its release.
Partnering with numerous organizations and outlets such as GLAAD, the premiere of the group shot and accompanying behind-the-scenes video was an amazing success with an overwhelming positive reaction and intense fan consumption. Each day that followed in the month (October 2024) featured original content including unique photographs as well as videos spread across all of the RuPaul’s Drag Race social platforms. Each of the six participating queens shared this content, leveraging their huge followings to engage with the media, and get this buzzy campaign trending. Undoubtedly, this project was a smash success and led to the immediate greenlight of a 2025 campaign that will continue to honor and celebrate queens from the RuPaul’s Drag Race community and their queer heroes. Fortunately, this year featured its highest engagement to date and shows that this powerful campaign is only gaining momentum as it continues to grow and develop year after year.
