RUPAUL DISMISSES ‘TRANNY’ CONTROVERSY

American drag superstar RuPaul Charles has refused to back down over his use of the term “tranny,” seen by some members of the transgender community as offensive.

The singer, actor and drag contest host had earlier been criticised for the use of the term “she-male” in a episode of his popular television show RuPaul’s Drag Race in March.

The Logo TV network, which broadcasts RuPaul’s Drag Race, said at the time that it would no longer use the term in the show.

Now, in an interview with Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Charles has gone on the offensive with regard to the word “tranny.”

“Does the word ‘tranny’ bother me? No. I love the word ‘tranny.’ Don’t you dare tell me what I can do or what I can say,” he insisted.

“It’s just words. Yeah, words do hurt. ‘Words hurt me.’ You know what? Bitch, you need to get stronger. You really do. Because you know what? If you think, if you’re upset by something I said, you have bigger problems than you think. I’m telling you this,” said Charles.

Charles argued that the furore was not caused by the trans community but by” fringe people who are looking for story lines to strengthen their identity as victims.”

Logo responded with a statement distancing itself from Charles’ comments, telling BuzzFeed that “These comments did not come from Logo. We are committed to supporting the entire LGBT community and will not feature any anti-trans rhetoric on our shows.”

In turn, the 53-year-old Charles lashed out at Logo on Twitter by tweeting: “Trust! @LogoTV hasn’t ‘distanced’ itself from me, not while I’m still payin’ the f%kin’ light bill over there.”

He added: “I’ve been a ‘tranny’ for 32 years. The word “tranny” has never just meant transsexual. #TransvestiteHerstoryLesson.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race recently ended its sixth season on Logo.