Drag Race UK’s Ginny Lemon explains why it’s so tough grieving loved ones while queer
Ginny Lemon bid farewell to Drag Race UK on her own terms. (BBC)
Drag Race UK star Ginny Lemon has explained how she used drag to process her feelings when her brother and sister both passed away within five years.
Ginny shocked viewers last week when she unexpectedly quit the competition, walking out before a lip-sync against her friend Sister Sister.
Throughout her time on Drag Race UK, Ginny was open about her emotions, from her struggles with self-confidence to her moving heart-to-heart with Bimini Bon Boulash over their non-binary identities.
Now, she has revealed how drag helped her to process the grief of losing her brother Wayne in March, 2011, followed five years later by the death of her sister Emma, in March 2016.
Ginny wrote on Instagram: “These deaths shook me and my family to the core, divided us, hurt us and brought on a world of despair. Especially for Emma’s young children.
“After Emma’s death I went into shock and depression for years hiding all my feelings and emotions behind a blue-eyebrowed yellow lemon in order to process my pain, to channel my inner demons.
“Not quite the popping answer to ‘Why did you start drag?’ that people often want but it’s the truth.”
Ginny Lemon said her queer identity made the loss of her sister even harder.
Ginny Lemon acknowledged that “grief is traumatic for anyone”, but added that as a queer person she wishes her sister could have seen her finally feel comfortable in her identity.
“I will never know what it’s like to my true self around my sister,” she wrote.
“However, her acidic wit hard but caring demeanour and absolute punk b***h attitude has shaped who I am and helped create Ginny. So at least I can still commune with her spiritually.
“Now reunited as a family we continue to heal, learn and grow. Despite Emma’s and Wayne’s MANY flaws, haha, we all still miss them.”
Sending a message to her family, and to all her fans who have also experienced loss, she added: “I send you love, virtual hugs and hope in the air today. Breathe it in, create and heal.”
