Throughout his blockbuster career, becoming the most extraordinarily famous drag queen on the planet, RuPaul Andre Charles has built a personality and a massive empire by being this larger-than-life, uninhibited glamazon. But interestingly enough, he chose to keep his private life heavily guarded and out of the spotlight for the whole of his four decades spent in show business – until now.
On March 5, the pop culture icon, producer and host of the multi-award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race will release his unabashedly raw memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, a story that chronicles his turbulent childhood through to his teens, where he realized his sexuality, his feral years as a young adult immersed in the punk and drag cultures of New York City and Atlanta, all leading up to his finding sobriety and forever-love with his now-husband Georges LeBar.
Despite candid descriptions of his deeply intimate journey, one that includes his growing up as a Black, poor, queer individual who discovers the power of staging, self-approval and found family, RuPaul altruistically likens his autobiography to a more blanketed, universal depiction. “I think it’s a very American story,” he tells Vogue. “I wanted to show how you can not only navigate a life on this planet, but also create something that isn’t just for you – something that’s exploratory and adventurous and selfless.”
What might surprise readers at first is how the 63-year-old mega star centers the book on only the first 40 years of his life, summing it up well before the launch of his sensational reality show. Instead, the book promises to peel back the layers of the chameleon-like malleability that has made RuPaul an enigma in the public’s eye. It is a self-portrayal that strips him bare, allowing the mythical shapeshifter to finally make himself truly known. “I can’t determine whether people are going to accept [the book] or understand it, but it was very cathartic for me to just get it all out,” he reveals to the fashion publication. “I feel like I’ve kept up a poker face and held my cards close to my chest my whole life, and I still do that, because it’s a protection mechanism.”
The last few years of writing the memoir turned out to be an unanticipated undertaking of self-discovery for the entertainment powerhouse. Whether he was seeing the difficulties of his childhood in a new light or merely accepting how the tumultuous time was critical in designing the marvel he is today, one might reckon that as RuPaul prepares to share his story with the world, he must be feeling more dynamic and courageous than ever before. Surprisingly, he isn’t. But that is precisely the point of his authoring the book in the first place. He refers to it as one of his “navigational tools in life,” encouraging the reader to embrace the power of self-acceptance and harnessing what makes you different.
“To remember who you are, and then to share it with everyone – especially in a world where people are sometimes looking to tear you apart and to use your kindness against you, to say that you’re weak,” he continues. “But the opposite is true. Your vulnerability is where your real power is.”
The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul, is available to pre-order here.
