‘Drag Race’ contestant Morphine Love Dion pushes back on misgendering

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 star Morphine Love Dion has just affirmed that they are nonbinary.

While the subject has not yet come up on the current season, Morphine’s social media bios include they/she pronouns. But some fans have continued to misgender them online, and enough was finally enough.

First—some background. Morphine has casually discussed their BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) procedure on the show, and not long afterwards, a viral tweet by plastic surgeon Dr. Miami surfaced, reading, “Yes men get BBLs too.”

Apparently, Morphine has repeatedly been tagged in the tweet, and while they know their fans’ hearts are in the right place, they decided to set the record straight. “hiii I love yall sm but pls stop tagging me in this,” they tweeted. “yall know im a they/them/her righttt and if u didn’t know now u know.”

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Morphine has since further clarified their identity. “I’m nonbinary, more to the femme side,” they told Out. “It’s just something I’ve personally been more comfortable identifying as for years now.”

Morphine is part of a growing number of nonbinary, trans or genderqueer queens that have joined Drag Race (or have come out afterwards). It’s a promising sign, considering the show has not always been welcoming to anyone who is not a cis male.

RuPaul said in a 2018 interview, “Drag loses its sense of danger and its sense of irony once it’s not men doing it, because at its core it’s a social statement and a big f-you to male-dominated culture. So for men to do it, it’s really punk rock, because it’s a real rejection of masculinity.”

He added that he would not cast a trans woman on the show.

After a huge backlash from viewers and Drag Race alums, RuPaul apologized and reversed this stance. Peppermint became the first out trans contestant in 2017, and Gottmilk joined as the first trans man in 2021. But nonbinary and trans queens have, of course, always been a part of Drag Race. Now, in Morphine’s case, it’s barely a point of discussion on the show itself.

Related:

Drag Race queens keep coming out as trans. Here are their stories.

Season 16 queen Amanda Tori Meating just came out as trans, joining the ranks of the show’s trans royalty.

13 Nonbinary Celebrities You Should Know

Happy International Nonbinary People’s Day!