Entertainment
Drag Race UK’s Bimini Bon Boulash speaks out after hometown mural celebrating trans rights defaced
Bimini Bon Boulash has spoken out in support of a Norwich artist whose mural celebrating their Drag Race stint and trans rights was vandalised.
The underpass painting, created by artist Knapple and activist Sharpay Salazar, celebrated Bimini, their Norwich Football Club look from episode one, and the drag star’s message of trans love and inclusion.
It depicted Bimini – who is non-binary – proudly displaying a Norwich FC scarf over their head against a trans pride blue, white and pink flag, surrounded by the words: ‘Bimini Babes, watch the queen conquer. Whether you’re he, she or them.’
But just four days after the artwork went up, yobs completely covered the artwork in blue and silver paint, before disposing of it in a nearby bin.
The BBC reported the defacement on Sunday, with Bimini speaking out after hearing what had happened.
They said: ‘I will never stop being myself. I’ll never shy away from living an authentically queer experience even if there are people that disagree with our existence.
‘Trans rights are human rights and I will push that message until the end.’
‘I don’t feel anger, I have sympathy,’ they continued. ‘I feel sorry for the people who felt threatened or intimidated by a message portraying love, positivity and kindness.’
‘People still ask why we need a pride? #TransIsBeautiful #TransPride.’
Knapple added to the BBC: ‘It shows such ignorance.
‘People think Norwich is quite liberal and progressive, but there is this undercurrent of not being accepting at all.’
Creator Sharpay later responded and told Bimini: ‘These few days have been such a whirlwind. so sad that this piece was the victim of a transphobic attack trying to silence queer voices.
‘I’m so happy that you managed to see it and allowed my message to spread nationally. thank you for the bottom of my heart.’
Bimini’s open conversation with Ginny Lemon while on Drag Race, coupled with their discussion of gender on social media, has seen an influx of fans gathering the strength of coming forward as non-binary or transgender.
‘Non-binary isn’t a new thing,’ they explained in a VT during episode three. ‘It’s just a new term.
‘As humans, we’re so complex that having a binary to fit everyone into it, whether it’s just male or female, just doesn’t make sense when there’s 7billion plus people in the world.’
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