‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Star Peppermint Talks ‘Transparent’ Musical, Anti-LGBTQ Legislation and Wanting to Compete on ‘All Stars’

Peppermint wants back on RuPauls Drag Race. She famously was runner-up in Season 9 when Sasha Velour took the crown after her iconic rose petal-filled finale lip sync.

I would love to go on All Stars, Peppermint tells me on this weeks episode of the Just for Variety podcast. She was asked to compete in 2018 but was already booked for the Go-Gos Broadway musical, Head Over Heels. I will happily go onto the show if they invite me, Peppermint says. It is quite expensive and quite an investment, but I do think it could be worth it.

Peppermint will next be seen in A Transparent Musical, opening May 23 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. She plays Davina, a role originated on the Transparent television series by Alexandra Billings. Peppermint recalls having two-person watch parties with her music producer when the series first premiered on Amazon in 2014.

The story is about a white Jewish family, which I dont necessarily identify with, but I was able to connect with it, and at that time, it was probably this one major television series that felt like it was telling my story, Peppermint says. That both highlights the lack of stories that are actually out there that are inclusive and diverse, but it also definitely shows that this could be of great importance and significance to a lot of people. Im just really grateful for the original TV series. It brought me a lot of joy and all of the feelings.

The original Transparent starred straight cisgender actor Jeffrey Tambor in the lead role of Maura, a trans woman who transitions later in life. In a perfect world, Peppermint says, an actors sexuality or gender identity shouldnt define what roles they should or shouldnt play.

However, at a time when the LGBTQ community is under legislative attack and anti-queer hate crimes appear to be on the rise, Peppermint believes its important that trans artists are given more opportunities to tell their own stories. People are only putting characters and stories out there that will make them money, she says. People are only trying to make money off of stories that are relevant or in peoples consciousness and we are only in peoples consciousness because we are being attacked and persecuted, and our rights are literally being stripped away written out of existence state by state.

In turn, Peppermint, explains, We should be able to benefit from that in some way, shape or form. Im not saying reparations for the trans community. Im saying, Can you hire a transgender person to do this? Because youre certainly willing to interview them and take their story.

Peppermint recently co-hosted Drag Isnt Dangerous, a telethon that raised more than $500,000 to help support efforts to defeat anti-LGBTQ legislation. I never thought that Id ever be doing a telethon, she says. I was like, This feels very Jerry Lewis, first of all I do remember watching Jerry Lewis with my grandmother and thinking how much fun it must be to be up there with those celebrities and everybody calling, because you never usually get a chance to see such a wide array of people coming together in the same space. That aspect of it I thought would be fun. It definitely was electric and fun. But obviously, as recently as probably three years ago, I didnt think that wed ever have the need to put together a telethon.

And, speaking of drag, congrats to my friend Aaron Jay Young on Queen, his gorgeous new coffee table book featuring 125 portraits of our favorite queens, including Peppermint. A percentage of the pre-order sales go to the ACLUs Drag Defense Fund to fight anti-LGBTQ legislation.

You can listen to the full interview with Peppermint above or download Just for Variety wherever you find your favorite podcasts.