All Stars 6 needs to crown Kylie Sonique Love as the first ever transgender Drag Race winner

Nobody has quite entranced the All Stars 6 viewers this season unanimously like Kylie Sonique Love. Kylie has spent All Stars 6 defying the expectations people have had of her, gaining legions of new fans and becoming a queen known for her talent rather than a quiet competitor from all the way back in season two. She’s entering the top four with a win, a lot of high placements and memorable moments and is undoubtedly a frontrunner. And she deserves to win that crown and become the first ever openly transgender winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race. She’s earned it.

She’s humble, she’s funny, she’s caring – but she’s also extremely charismatic, fierce and has gone above and beyond her comfort zone in almost every episode this season. This is exactly why Kylie should take home the All Stars 6 crown:

Her drag has evolved exponentially from season two

Kylie has had a huge thing that works in her favour with All Stars 6, and that’s that she has been a lowkey presence in the Drag Race franchise since her early departure back in season two. Season two aired 12 years ago. RuPaul’s Drag Race wasn’t even a blip on the mainstream radar, and in that time if you placed low in your season you’d return to your clubs and nightlife drag scene and would be known by a few queers and that’s about it. These days, you can place last and be a touring drag superstar.

In the years that followed season two, Kylie proceeded with her transition after coming out as trans in her season’s reunion episode. There was always something not quite in the game with Kylie, like you could see her battling with something. She wasn’t a competitor truly in it to win it. After coming out, her drag evolved with her as a woman. Now watching Kylie compete is truly thrilling – she’s a queen with an amazing eye for fashion and a jaw dropping performer. She takes challenges on that would have previously sent her home with little to no fear and consistently defies expectations, like she did with her winning Jessica Lange performance and her excellent Dolly Parton Snatch Game, which also should have won. She’s gone from a wallflower to a winner, and that’s what an entry to the Hall Of Fame should be.

She’s a risk taker

Kylie has never played it safe this season. She has never, ever coasted. She’s played to her strengths (playing southern roles in acting challenges, showing BODY on the runway), but she’s never done something I would deem as lazy or predictable. She’s been inventive, versatile and a good time. When she chose to play male for the Super Bowl challenge, it was a daring choice and she absolutely killed it as Steve Tyler. That’s what a winner does.

Any naysayers who wrote Kylie Sonique Love off as shy or not a charismatic presence have been silenced by how much fun she’s been this season, and her drag really does speak for itself.

She’s the representation the franchise has needed for years

RuPaul’s Drag Race’s turbulent relationship with the trans community is no secret and is widely documented. RuPaul’s interview with the Guardian where he said transwomen and bio queens wouldn’t be able to compete was widely criticised, and although he has since changed his views it was a huge error on his part that put a bad taste in a lot of fans’ mouths.

Kylie deserves to be the first openly trans queen to take the crown and enter the Drag Race winners circle. She’s earned it, she’s a legend in the industry and she’s a great ambassador for the validity of the trans community doing drag.

Her entire journey this season is what All Stars is all about

Nobody really had any expectations for Kylie Sonique Love, and that’s what’s made her supremacy so satisfying. Queens like Ginger Minj have almost had a ticket to the top four – an instant frontrunner based on her history as a competitor. But if we’re being real, Ginger hasn’t delivered this season as excellently as she has in the past. She’s done well, but she’s had minimal wow moments and I think sometimes her success comes off the back of her name and reputation rather than what she’s actually brought to the table. Same goes for Eureka.

With Trinity K Bonet and Ra’Jah, they’ve had similar trajectories as Kylie. Varying levels of underrated on their season with a fully evolved and formidable presence on All Stars 6. I would be overjoyed if either of them won, they’ve made me fall in love with them all over again. But there’s something about the unexpected wow that Kylie has delivered that makes me want her crowned more than the other two. She’s the winner we need.

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