The “reading is fundamental” jokes write themselves with this story.
RuPaul has shared a lot about his life and his philosophies in interviews, on TV, and even in past books, but now he’s getting ready to put it all out there in even greater detail.
The Emmy and Tony winner has announced his definitive memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, slated to drop early next year.
The TV star took to Instagram to announce the book, revealing the exciting project via a video that sees him speaking to the camera without any makeup or fantasy lighting, perhaps mimicking how raw he’ll be in the tell-all.
“After two and a half years, it’s finally here: My memoir,” the host stated in the short clip, adding that he is both “so excited and so anxious at the same time, because I really reveal so much of myself. You know, this world today. It feels so hostile and such a scary place to be vulnerable in. But I did it, so get ready.”
RuPaul had some fun talking about the memoir in the video’s caption. “Writing this book left me gooped, gagged and stripped raw,” he wrote.
The queen of all drag queens also opined that “I’ve learned that vulnerability is strength, but so far, all I feel is nervous as hell, yet super excited to share it with y’all. When all is said and done, it’s just me, Ru.”
“RuPaul strips away all artifice and recounts the story of his life with breathtaking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography,” reads a synopsis of the book. “From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating complex relationships with his absent father and temperamental mother, to forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, to finding enduring love with his husband Georges LeBar and self-acceptance in sobriety, RuPaul excavates his life-story, uncovering new truths and insights in his personal history.”
One very important topic is missing from that description: the TV show that catapulted him to superstardom, taking him from the gay world to the main stage at the Emmys and beyond.
Apparently, The House of Hidden Meanings only focuses on the first several decades of RuPaul’s life and career, and it stops before he launches RuPaul’s Drag Race. This is an odd choice, and one that fans buying a copy should be aware of.
The House of Hidden Meanings is expected to be released on March 4, 2024 through HarperCollins.
The title will be RuPaul’s fourth book, following Lettin It All Hang Out: An Autobiography; Workin’ It! RuPaul’s Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style; and GuRu.
Harvard University has drawn criticism from conservatives after announcing that Tufts professor Kareem Khubchandani -- who performs and occasionally lectures in drag as "LaWhore Vagistan" -- will serve as a visiting associate professor in its Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality department.
The visiting professorship was established through an endowment from members of the Harvard Gender & Sexuality Caucus, the university's LGBTQ alumni group. It was created to bring in scholars focused on issues related to sexual minorities and sexuality.
Khubchandani is scheduled to teach two courses during the 2025-2026 academic year: "Queer Ethnography," in the fall semester, and "RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire" in the spring semester, focusing on the cultural influence of the show RuPaul's Drag Race.
The founders of the legendary Miss Adams Morgan Pageant talk about how D.C.'s largest drag event has evolved over 37 years.
By John Riley Photographs from the 1998 to 2024 pageants courtesy of the Dupont Social Club
October 1, 2025
"The whole Miss Adams Morgan Pageant really started by accident," says Steven Brandt, a board member of the Dupont Social Club, which organizes the annual drag pageant, now a fixture on many D.C. residents' calendars.
Brandt recalls that he and his now-husband, Rick Boylan, were celebrating Halloween in drag with friends when, on their way to a piano bar, walking through Dupont Circle, they were accosted by a group of teenagers.
"It was raining," recalls Brandt. "They ripped my wig off and threw it in a puddle, spewing all kinds of hatefulness. After that, we decided we needed a place to be able to go in drag if we wanted. It was maybe only the first or second time we'd been in drag, but I was so enraged by the experience that I kept saying over and over, 'We've got to...This isn't right.'"
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