'RuPaul's Drag Race' Queens Speak Out Against Anti-Trans, Anti-Drag Legislation amid 200th Episode

As RuPaul's Drag Race passes its 200th episode mark, many of its alums are working to ensure it remains a voice for the LGBTQ community.

The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking a record number of 349 bills targeting LGBTQ rights introduced during the legislative session, causing the reality competition series queens to speak out at a recent viewing event celebrating the episode milestone.

"Although things have progressed since Drag Race aired its first episode on Logo TV in 2009, the queer community continues to be the target of discrimination," according to a press release from GLAAD.

"It's wild to see what's going on as all these anti-trans bills being disguised as anti-drag bills," said season 15 contestant Sasha Colby in a video filmed during the event and shared by GLAAD across social media. "You know what we're not gonna do? We're not gonna let them take us down. We're going to keep doing what we need to do. Because you know what? Drag is for us, and drag is art."

Colby's message was in reference to two Tennessee Bills, Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 9, that will potentially restrict transition-related care for minors and restrict drag performances in the state.

"We're doing something right when the government is nervous about us... if it wasn't for drag, not only would I not be Sasha Colby, but I think I would be a very broken person, a very alone person," Colby said in the video. "Without drag, I wouldn't be able to figure out who I really am and my voice. And that's what they want to stop from us, so let's not do that."

"Stay woke, stay brave, and stay in drag," she added.

In the video, Colby was joined by Angeria Paris VanMichaels (Season 14), Heidi N Closet (Season 12), Jackie Cox (Season 12), June Jambalaya (Season 14), Kerri Colby (Season 14), Kylie Sonique Love (Season 2 contestant and All Stars Season 6 winner), Laganja Estranja (Season 6), Priyanka (Canada's Drag Race Season 1 winner), and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (Season 10 and Season 11).

While the Emmy Award-winning reality competition has been around since 2009, reaching its fifteenth season and accumulating multiple awards, including 23 Emmys, its contestants are still seeing the effects of its impact.

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Kerri Colby, Sasha's drag daughter, shared in the video: "This is all just a game and a ploy to distract… This is nothing but a distraction to break people's focus from being about their life and being about their truth. If you're not focused on what you need to do, you're going to get caught up in everything that you are not meant to be caught up in."

She added: "That's why this tradition has gone back for hundreds of years and it's brought so much positivity," she said. "I'm on here to just continue to spread that positivity because we need more of that."