On Point With: Kylie Sonique Love

After making TV history during her first run on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and gagging us all with her fully realized talent in her second, Vegas showgirl supreme Kylie Sonique Love is about to make Fire Island her next playground to conquer.

Thotyssey: Ms. Kylie, thanks so much for talking to us today! I was wondering if you could share with us what you were just doing before we were talking? And where are you?

Kylie Sonique Love: I’m in Vegas right now. My days are pretty open during the day, so I catch up on work stuff like bills and running errands and remodeling my place. I’m planning on going to sushi soon for lunch! I don’t go into work until like 7:00pm, so I’m good during the day… and I love to make most of the daytime.

“Work” is performing in a major drag revue! Tell us more about that.

I am in RuPaul’s Drag Race Live.; I headline the show here in Vegas, at the Flamingo. Being here is such a dream job for me… especially when I think about my drag career, As a showgirl, it’s one of the biggest things you can do, and it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do. I feel like it’s the cherry on top of my career. Every night I get to perfect what I did the night before, and we don’t always get that opportunity in life to go back and do something over again until you get it perfect.

And so that’s the way I look at it–it’s never done. It’s never finished. There’s always something else I can tweak or make a little bit different. So it’s the never-ending art.

Other than this fantastic Vegas run, what have been some other post-Drag Race career highlights for you?

I’ve gotten to do so many amazing things since the All-Stars win. I am also headlining another tour with AHF, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. I’ve signed on with them for a few years, and this will be my third year. It’s called “Ohh Mamma,” a burlesque version of Mamma Mia with a PSA for AIDS healthcare and prevention. This year, we’re going to go to the West Coast.

I’ve also gotten to meet Madonna, Gwen Stefani… those are the two that come to mind immediately, because they’re the girls that I’ve admired my whole life. And I’ve gotten to travel around the world; I’ve always wanted to see Japan, and I got to do Japan in 2023. When I look back at all the things that I get to do because of the exposure from Drag Race, it’s just a dream come to life. And I don’t take any gig I get for granted; I know that a lot of what’s happening is answered prayers. Just practicing gratitude is something that I try to do every single day.

Booked and truly blessed!

Yes, yes. People tend to think that if you’re not posting things on social media, then that means you don’t have anything going on. I’m constantly working on projects. I’m not too much of a social media kind of person. I’m more of an in-person-person, sort of.

I hear that! Social media can be so toxic, and distracting.

And there’s a disconnect, too. There’s an authenticity that people don’t get to really see. I feel like because the internet world is so judgmental, people are constantly editing themselves down to an almost unrealistic version of who they are because they’re so afraid to make a mistake in front of the world. And I think as humans, we should be allowed to live and learn without feeling like we’re completely condemned. People should be able to redeem themselves or make mistakes, and I think the internet kind of doesn’t give you an opportunity to do that. That’s a whole other story.

Some of your RuPaul’s Drag Race cohorts are notorious for using social media as a weapon against their rivals and trolls… sometimes playfully, sometimes maliciously. But always to keep their own name out there, and to keep us talking about them.

Listen, we all love a little gossip here and there… but not at the expense of ruining someone’s life. I mean, that’s just how I feel. I feel like there are other ways that we can entertain people.

I think a great appeal of watching you on Drag Race, particularly the All Stars season, was just seeing you drop your practical wisdom bombs and give advice and encouragement to your co-stars.

I’m an empath, so I hear and I feel what’s going on around me. And and I don’t know if this has anything with me being a Taurus, but we deal with our pain very quietly; we sit in it, and we listen and learn from our own experiences. I’ve experienced a lot. Being a queer kid in the South, you just learn how to camouflage yourself, and not bring too much attention to yourself. And you kind of learn how to live with the enemy in a way. You’re like, “How can I share this space without it destroying me completely?”

I think all the little things that I’ve had to go through in my life prepared me as I get older. And I’ve always said to myself, if I’m ever in a situation where I could give advice to help someone or amplify my voice to help someone, then I’m going to do that… whether it’s on camera or off camera. I just feel like that’s who I am as a person. I don’t think I know everything, but I know how to listen. And if I can share something with someone that I feel is helpful, I’m going to do that. And I’m just so grateful I had the opportunity to do that. It definitely felt like a therapy session with my Drag Race sisters. I was just in a different mind-space.

You first appeared as cast member of Drag Race way back in its second season in 2010, when the show was still somewhat “unpolished” and not quite a cultural zeitgeist yet. Could you still tell at the time, though, that the show was going to ultimately be a very big deal?

Well, for me, it was a big deal… whether it hadn’t become mainstream or not. To me, it was the biggest deal that I’d ever known in drag. RuPaul is what most people’s first impression of drag as mainstream is–and by the time Drag Race came out, she had done it all. Everything that we’re doing on that show and these challenges, RuPaul already did it. And that’s what that show is about; it’s preparing us for that.

And some people don’t think of it that way. Some people go in, they just want to be exposed. But after you’re exposed, what else? I feel like if you really have something to offer to the show, if you’re ready in that sense, then do it. If you just want to go and do gigs, clubs, and stuff like that, that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. But this platform is for people who have a voice, who want to sing, who want to dance, who want to act, who want to use their voice in a political way or in a comedic way. It’s a platform to jump-start your entertainment career.

And I am so grateful for it because before RuPaul’s Drag Race came out, we didn’t really get opportunities as queer people. We were always the side character, the gay, the best friend. We never got to see ourselves as the main character. And Drag Race has come in and taken names and kicking asses when it comes to that.

You were a pretty big contributor to the collective ass kicking yourself that season! You were sadly eliminated a few weeks in, but when you returned for the reunion episode at the end of the season and came out publicly as a trans woman, you made history: not just as the first Drag Race cast member to do so, but as the first reality TV star in general to be an out trans woman. Were you always planning to come out on TV in that way, and did you realize right away the historical significance of doing so?

So, I did not plan it to be that way. I do remember when I was competing on the show that I did mention it during my interviews, and stuff like that. The girls already knew that my goal was to transition–that that’s who I felt like I was. And so, when we were getting ready to do the reunion, the producers and stuff call us before, and they just wanted to have an idea of what was going on in our life at that point. I was like, “Well, I’ve already started my transition.” And at that time, I was in a rock band in Atlanta, and that was also something that I was doing. Those are a couple of things that I talked to them about.

So I wasn’t sure that they were actually going to ask me about it during the reunion, because they didn’t really show anything about it during the season when I talked about it. So I was like, “Oh, maybe they’re not trying to highlight my journey.” But at that time, too, people had to see it to believe it. Today, you can just tell people you’re trans, and they have to believe you. Back then it was more like, “I can show you better than I can tell you.” So it’s a different world.

And yeah, I had no idea. Ru asked me, and I never thought about what I was going to say in that moment if I was asked–because there wasn’t really that much resources or information for me. I just knew how I felt on the inside, so it was sometimes hard to find the words to fully convey it. Looking back at it now, I probably would have said things a little bit differently… but I was just like, “I’m a woman,” and whatever that meant to me at that point. Now there’s so much more information now, I probably would have said things a little bit differently. But it was just so genuine and authentic.

Famously, a decade after Season 2 you returned to the franchise for All Stars Season 6 and won the whole damn thing! You actually performed well in basically every challenge and runway.

I never had a bad moment on All Stars. When I watched it back, I said, “I never had a bad moment.” There was never a moment on the show where I did bad.

It was great TV because you were returning as a fully formed, seasoned and multitalented performer, and it was as if we were seeing you for the first time.

I needed that more than anything. I needed to be able to come back and get to redo that moment in my life. That’s what I was saying to you before about being in the Vegas show. Every night I get the opportunity to go back and do a show over and over again, and perfect it, and make it better than I did the night before. And with All Stars, I felt like this is my one shot to come back and take everything I’ve learned from being on the show the first time and everything I’ve learned from watching it. I just wanted to come back as a fully realized version of myself in that moment, and just be so focused and so there. And not to come in as a competitor, but to come there and have fun. That’s one thing that I didn’t get to do the time before.

And, you were probably more familiar with the mechanics behind making reality TV at that point!

The “TV part” of it is the part that I didn’t fully understand [the first time I was on]. People are there telling you to ask Nicole about her son, or whatever’s going on–you’re there making TV, and you have to be a team player. Everyone that’s on that set is a part of that team. It’s not just the twelve girls that got picked to be on the show–everyone there is very important to the show.

I feel like some of our sisters don’t realize that; they could be snappy or rude or demanding. And the PAs and everyone that’s there, they’re there to help us. We’re there to put on a good show, and I feel like with my All Stars season, we did that. It was a good season to be on.

You took audiences on a fun journey to the top! Nowadays, with the more recent seasons of All-Stars, the winners seem a little bit more easy to predict and the proceedings, maybe, a bit more formulaic. Or it could be just that the show’s editors are doing their jobs really well with forming narratives from all the fragments so that results make sense. Usually winners now were fan favorites from their original seasons, or people who just came very close to winning the first time around. Do you think All-Stars winners have gotten easier to predict since your season?

I would say that it’s yes and no. Because sometimes when you’re watching it, you know who the winner should be, right? And then all of a sudden, there’s this twist that happens and you’re like, wait a minute, why am I watching this… and now I feel like maybe now this one should win? Especially this last All Stars, I was like, “Oh my God, what are they going to do?” I love Joey and I’m obsessed with Crystal. I think deep down in our hearts, we’re like, “Crystal is the winner. Crystal is the true winner of the season.” But you’re watching it, and you’re like, “Oh my God, I’m falling in love with Joey Jay.” I would love to see Joey Jay win.

Seeing Joey rise from underdog status to finalist was a genuine delight!

Yeah. And even when Ginger was on, Season 10, everyone knew: “Oh, Ginger’s going to win it.”

This is such an interesting question because I love watching a show when everyone wants to celebrate the winner, right? There’s something about especially being on the show and feeling like there are people who truly wanted me to win, and who felt like my win is justified. But there are some people that are like, “Oh, well, we fell in love with that other person, and that person did this more than you… or whatever.” When I look at it, and any one of us could have won. It could have been Eureka, it could have been Rajah, it could have been Ginger. And I’m just so lucky that it got to be mine.

So yeah, being on the inside of it and then watching it, I kind of understand it. I always try to think of what the girls are feeling when they’re watching it at home, because sometimes it’s a little bit different being on TV than being there in person.

I wanted to ask you about what’s happening in the world, and particularly in our country, with the human rights and dignity of trans people just constantly being under attack–the dumb talking points about trans athletes, and the general growing hostility. It’s all such unnecessarily toxic and fearmongering discourse. As a public trans figure, how do you navigate this dark moment? And what’s your advice for everyone who’s feeling like they’re in a bad situation right now because of this rhetoric?

RuPaul has this lyric in one of her songs: People talking sh*t since the beginning of time / Unless they paying your bills, pay them bitches no mind. I love that. The more visible we are as a community, the more hate we’re going to get. That just comes with it.

Trans people used to live very stealth lives. A long time ago, trans people would transition–they would just transition into their new life, and that was that. They didn’t make their whole identity about being trans. And now trans people are like, “No. We want to be seen, too. We want to have our voices. We want to be known for more than being these people with the ‘weird story’ that you have to speak very quietly about.” I believe that trans people have always been here, and we’re still here. We just need to be even more visible, and use our voices to help educate. I just feel like we’re in a place where we have to put our best foot forward, in a way.

I do sometimes hear conversations and see things posted on social media that kind of take us a few steps back. That’s in every group of people. You try so hard to show how amazing you are, and why you deserve to be treated equally. And then we have people in our own communities who kind of make a mockery out of who we are, and fuel that thing that scares people already. And it’s like, “We’re negative 1% of the world. Let’s not do that right now. We can do that within [our community], but let’s not do that in public. We have to show our hearts right now.”

You’ve performed in New York before! Do you have favorite spots here to kiki at, and favorite folks to kiki with?

Well, I mean, I love Brooklyn. And oh my God, not to be so stereotypical… but I feel like this. If you go to New York and you didn’t run into Amanda Lepore, then you didn’t go to New York.

Truth!

I love New York. I love just walking around and just being in the atmosphere. There’s not one specific thing where I’m like, “Oh, I have to do this, and I have to do that.” I think just being in the presence of the New York people, it’s great. And sometimes I try not to have any expectations when I go, other than what I’m supposed to do when I’m there. But I kind of like to see new things, and there’s so many parts of New York that are undiscovered by myself.

A lot of times in New York, especially during the winter, people are just wearing coats; they’re all covered up. And one thing I noticed, I was like, “You kind of lose people in wearing the coats and the scarves, and stuff like that.” But then I was like, “Everyone has different and unique shoes.” That’s one thing I learned when I was in New York. I was like, “Okay. What is the most unique thing about everyone in New York?” It’s their shoes.

Aw! You probably won’t see many shoes (or much clothing at all, for that matter) at Fire Island this weekend for The Ice Palace edition of Jazmine’s party It Girls on August 29th. Have you ever been to Fire Island before?

I have never been to Fire Island, believe it or not!

You’ll love it! Venus Mystique and DJ ARRA will be on board as well. Do you personally know any of these girls yet?

I think I might be meeting everybody for the first time, which I’m always so happy to do. I love meeting new people.

You already talked about the tour that’s happening on the West Coast now. Is there anything else coming up for you?

I have another tour that I’m doing in September: the RYOT Tour. It’ll be live music with Willam, Discord Addams, Adore Delano, Sasha Allen and Coco Montrese. And we have Cassie Nova from Texas–she’s a comedian who’s going to be emceeing our show. We’re going to go to eight cities [Seattle, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Orlando, Louisville, Nashville, Akron and St. Petersburg]. So I’m really looking forward to that.

We’re also working on music. I released a song a couple of months ago called “Push It (La La La La La)” with a DJ from New York, Brett Oosterhaus. It’s a remake of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It,” but with a completely different spin. It’s available on all streaming platforms.

Let’s talk about Miley Cyrus for a bit!

She’s my drag daughter! I love her.

So if you were touring with Miley Cyrus and you came out to do some sort of performance–backup vocals, dancing, just vamping, whatevs–for one of her numbers, what would be the number you’d like to come out for?

Oh my God, that’s such a good question. I mean, “Party in the USA” is pretty iconic, right? And I love “Midnight Sky,” for sure. “Flowers!” I love to sing that song already,
and that would be a great song for a drag queen to come out to. What is the other one I like? “Angels Like You” is such a beautiful song. Yeah, there are so many songs.

I actually got to perform with her several times on stage. We did a performance at the VMAs! And we performed at the Ryman Auditorium, which was the original Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee, for a Pride Special for Peacock. And then we were the first live show after the pandemic at the Resorts World in Las Vegas in 2021, and we performed “American Woman.”

Maybe you two could record a whole album together! Are there any closing thoughts you wish to share here?

I will just say this. I hope that everyone is being and gentle with themselves, and also with each other. I mean, we’re all living in a crazy, crazy world. So let’s just be more kind and more gentle to each other. We’re all going through it.

Amen! Thanks, Kylie!