It’s our first Babe of the Month blog, and of coooourse it’s RuPaul Drag Race UK’s Bimini Bon Boulash, an East London based drag queen who originally hails from our very own Norfolk! If you haven’t been watching Drag Race UK, where have you been? Popular opinion is that it’s smashing its US counterpart out of the park, and I have to say I agree. Out of the talent-packed cast, Bimini is my number one and I’m LOVING watching them work their way to the top each week! OK, (slight spoiler alert) they may have not fared so well this week, but overall Bimini is smashing it. Here’s why I think so.
“Non-binary isn’t a new thing, it’s just a new term”.
There aren’t many shows on UK television, especially the BBC, that openly discuss gender identity. Season two, episode three saw Bimini Bon Boulash share a tender, honest conversation with fellow competitor Ginny Lemon about living “somewhere in between the binary”. If you haven’t seen the conversation, watch it here:
“How we identify isn’t up to anyone else, it’s isn’t up to anyone else to have a debate about it, about how we feel inside”.
Talking about gender identity is so important, especially for young viewers who may be confused about their own identity and find non-binary and queer representation lacking in their day to day lives. The conversation between Bimini and Ginny inspired several viewers to come out as non-binary and we love to see it.
Bimini continued the conversation on their Instagram, saying “my view is that societies preconceived notions of gender hold many people back, whether that is men, women, or a person that views themselves as more gender fluid” – read the full post here.
“Don't be scared to embrace the femme, whether you're he, she, or them.”
How can we not also talk about Bimini’s iconic verse on the song that had the world bing-bang-bonging, week five’s Eurovision style track UK Hun?
Whilst we’re living for Bimini’s realness around gender identity, we are also living for their lewks. First of all, did anyone from Norwich ever think they’d see the NCFC football kit turned into a catsuit and strutted down the runway? Nope! OK so it landed Bimini in the bottom, but who cares?
Obviously, our favourite look was Bimini floating down the runway as prehistoric bacteria, but runner up prize has to go to their stunning seaside look that saw them win week six’s episode.
Finally, let’s embrace Bimini’s kindness. It is so refreshing to see an upcoming star on Drag Race show their personality, be truly fierce and quick witted without resorting to needless reads and unkind VTs. Yep, we get it, it makes good TV and we all live for it, but Bimini has become a stand out, yet… have we seen her read anyone out of turn? Not as far as I recall! Kill them with kindness, babe!