Ariana Grande calls drag “inspiring” and “joyous” in new video

Drag is everything, and Ariana Grande knows it.

In a moment when anti-trans legislature and drag bans are popping up like weeds, more and more celebrities have been speaking out in defense of what is, simply speaking, one of queer culture’s oldest and most innovative art forms.

In recent months, Grande has come under fire for her alleged romantic involvement with her married Wicked costar Ethan Slater. Though the two seemed to take a break after the scandal broke, trusted gossip sources confirm that the two are going strong. More importantly: they’re getting ready for the Wicked publicity press tour, which means we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of the controversial couple.

In a newly-released Beauty Secrets video for Vogue, Grande shows us her beauty routine, favoring her own beauty brand r.e.m. beauty and shouting out some tried-and-true staple brands, from rich girl favorite La Mer to Anastasia Beverly Hills.

What was less expected was Grande’s passionate paean to drag in the middle of the video. Grande explains that growing up doing musical theater in Boca Raton, she learned to associate every character she played with a different makeup look. As her career advanced, it became “an important piece of the puzzle” to bring that creative energy to each new video and new stage of her career. “It’s an important part of being an artist, and of storytelling,” Grande notes. She goes on to say that a lot of her makeup inspiration comes from watching drag.

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“I love drag so much,” she says. “It is so inspiring to me. When I was on Broadway doing 13 [the musical], I used to go afterwards to see the queens, and sometimes I would end up singing. It was just a really joyous and important part of my life.”

Spoken like a true icon. Grande, who stepped in as a guest judge on Season 15 of “Drag Race” earlier this year, has never been shy about her love of queer culture. Drag doesn’t need to be defended, but sadly the state of American politics at this moment is such that it bears repeating: drag is good. Not only that, it’s a vital part of the arts. Straight people and queer people alike take inspiration and joy from the art form, and that’s not going to stop anytime soon, no matter how hard the anti-drag lobby tries.