I have no problem admitting that Michelle Visage is a f***ing amazing human being outside of what she does for the LGBTQ community. She was hanging with us before it was cool to do so, and now the singer, actress and television host is finally getting the recognition she deserves for being her incredible self.
The RuPaul's Drag Race mainstay officially turned 50 yesterday, although you can't really tell due to how much work she's had done (KIDDING!). All jokes aside, Michelle to me is an underrated legend that deserves so much more credit than what she is given for. I've had the pleasure of interviewing and meeting her in the past, and she's just as lovely and kind in person as she is on social media and on that show that just won a historic Emmy this past Monday night.
That being said, here are 5 big reasons why Michelle Visage is a true gem in our community in celebration of her 50th birthday.
She Was Down With us When Many Weren't
The 90's were a turbulent time for the LGBTQ community as we were (and still are) fighting for our rights in many different aspects. The mainstream media used words back then to describe us as "freaks" and so much more, coming out on television (IE: Ellen) meant career death, yet Michelle didn't care and stood by us through and through. She was RuPaul's sidekick on her legendary talk show during the decade that was, which was the first glimpse of how truly fabulous and wonderful this creature was to our community so many moons ago.
"Say It Like You Mean It"
That's a Wendy Williams quote, but it rings beautifully to the kind of person that Michelle is. She has no filter, says what's on her mind and doesn't care about the backlash she'll receive. This can usually be seen as a problem with self-awareness, however the words that come out of her mouth are generally ones that come from a good place. This has been seen for several years on and off RPDR, and I believe the show wouldn't be half the success that it is today if she didn't join it back in season 3.
Shutting Down Perez Hilton
Once again, this is a personal opinion, but I do not care for Perez Hilton and the type of person he is in our community. The only times I've ever respected him was when he hosted the Bad Girls Club reunions because he stayed neutral in all of their fights and called each of them out when needed. It delighted me when Michelle entered the Celebrity Big Brother house a couple of years ago and went toe to toe with Perez, bluntly saying that he set "gay men back 50 years". He's been taken down by several different celebrities in ways that often include homophobic language and childish remarks, however Michelle's POV simply spoke out about all the wrong things he's done for us and was something that needed to be said in such a pressure cooker type of situation.
Let's Not Forget That Music Career
Before Drag Race and Ru's talk show, Michelle was part of a wildly successful girl group called Seduction, who had a ton of major hits including "Two to Make It Right" and "Heartbeat." Even though she jokes about it now, she was also featured on The Bodyguard soundtrack, which has sold 42 million copies worldwide. Not too shabby.
Lights, Camera, Action
Before Drag Race starts up again in 2019 and all the pandemonium that will ensue, Michelle will be heading across the pond to make her West End debut as Miss Hedge in Everybody's Talking About Jamie. She'll be performing there from October 18th, 2018 to January 26th, 2019. Could this eventually lead to her taking the show on Broadway and perhaps winning… a Tony? (Cue Gia Gunn saying "What's a Tony?")
Happy 50th Birthday Michelle. Thank you for all that you've done in our community and will continue to do for many years to come.
This post was created by one of our Contributing Writers and does not reflect the opinion of Instinct Magazine or the other Contributing Writers when it comes to this subject.