RuPaul made me sit down – I think it’s because we’re the same height: Tia Kofi on Drag Race, Doctor Who, and queer history (EXCLUSIVE)
The broadcaster and drag sensation appears on the newly relaunched 'Attitude Presents: Out with Suzi Ruffell' podcast
By Dale Fox
Tia Kofi has appeared on the Attitude Presents: Out with Suzi Ruffell podcast, talking sci-fi, the AIDS crisis, and why she thinks RuPaul’s Drag Race is essentially a Doctor Who spin-off.
The newly relaunced podcast is available now on all major podcast platforms and on the Attitude YouTube channel.
She also has a theory about why production kept making her sit down in the werk room. “I have to sit down every time Ru comes in,” she laughed.
“I think it’s because we have to be smaller than Ru. Speculation, but I suspect…”
On science fiction and drag sharing the same DNA: “Sci-fi from day one has been progressive and shows you utopian ideals of what the future could be. That’s why it feels so queer and so related to drag.”
“No one complained when Captain Kirk literally sh*gged an alien”
Star Trek, she pointed out, was responsible for one of the first interracial kisses on broadcast television, which caused an uproar in 1968 – though its audience had apparently been fine with Kirk’s other romantic pursuits.
“No one complained when Captain Kirk literally shagged an alien, but as soon as he kissed a Black woman…”
She also hosts The Final FronTia, her own podcast exploring the fandoms that shaped its guests.
On the AIDS crisis still echoing through cabaret venues: “We have drag queens working at [London venue] Halfway to Heaven who were there in the 80s. That activism is in your drag if you go through that cabaret route, whether you know it or not.”
On queer people who distance themselves from trans rights: “They’ll come for you last, but they will come for you.”
And for anyone not yet ready to be out: “The priority is always to be safe. Find your tribe, find the right people – whether it’s with Doctor Who … or whether it’s with the lesbians.”
New episodes of Attitude Presents: Out with Suzi Ruffell are released every Friday. Other guests confirmed so far include Munroe Bergdorf, Dan Gillespie Sells, Phil Dunning, Peter Tatchell, Megan Jayne Crabbe, Farrel Hegarty and Bradley Riches.