Monique Heart Shares Impact of Conversion Therapy During ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Vs. the World’
Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic Reading Time: 2 minutes
Monique Heart opened up about her experience with so-called conversion therapy during RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World. In the powerful moment, Monique encouraged anyone who feels as though they should undergo conversion therapy not to do it. “You are enough,” she said. “There is not one part of you that is broken. Don’t bind to the hype that there’s something wrong with you.”
When getting ready, Monique Heart shared her conversion therapy experiences with Blu Hydrangea and Janey Jacké. Before beginning the story, she shared that she was on the route to full ministry before coming out. Monique began by sharing that she is an only child and always felt like the odd person out. She grew up in a family that prioritized religion, so she spent more time at the church than at the park as a child.
Monique Heart Shares Conversion Therapy Experience on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Vs The World
Monique shared that her church would preach that the lord would banish the “homosexual demon” from people. Since it was preached that homosexuality was bad, Monique always felt like something was wrong with her. The leaders of the group converted themselves to be straight for one another and taught the class by stating that their students could be just like them.
The drag queen went on to express that she’s dated females in the past but always knew something wasn’t right. Since something was off about dating women, she let the conversion therapy lessons go in one ear and out the other.
“For those who feel like they need to go through conversion therapy, Imma tell you don’t. Don’t even waste your time or your money,” Monique said.
Monique shared that the entire experience was shame based. After she finished their story, both Blu Hydrangea and Janey Jacké agreed saying that they had similar stories. Even though all the queens in the series are from different places, their experiences connect in some ways. At the end of the video she state that she didn’t enjoy the therapy, but is thankful that the experience helped her find her true self.
Monique is not the first queen that has talked about going through conversion therapy. Both Dusty Ray Bottoms from season 10 from RuPaul’s Drag Race and Scarlet Envy from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 are open about their experiences in conversion therapy. Last year, they were spotlighted by The Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization focused on suicide preventions among the LGBTQ+ community, for their effort to end conversion therapy.
