This year, International Drag Day falls on 16 July. The first ever episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race aired on 2 February 2009, over 13 years ago. Inspired by the format of America’s Next Top Model, performers that once paraded across the glittery dancefloors of their local bars were now celebrities, with the original LogoTV-commissioned episodes filtering through to alternative audiences that might not have encountered drag in their daily lives. Now, RuPaul’s Drag Race is an international franchise, with popular spin-offs commissioned in the UK, Australia, Thailand, the Netherlands, and more. Drag Race is not
