You mentioned that you still audition for things. May I ask if it’s for other reality shows? Are you thinking about getting back into acting?Yeah, acting things for movies and sitcoms and stuff. Yeah, just finished pilot season.

I can’t imagine you having to audition.

Part of the secret of my success in all these 35 years has been being adaptable, and that’s true for people who are drag queens or people in show business. That is true for everyone. In fact, what we're witnessing politically and what the current administration in Washington has preyed on is people’s inability to change and adapt. They promise them that they’ll get their old jobs back. Well, madam, we do not do those jobs anymore, and anyone who tells you that we can get your old job back is conning you. They're preying on your weaknesses.

And, I’ll just go back to [auditioning]—you never know where that next big idea is coming from. So, I went and auditioned for stuff for this current pilot season. Who knows what will come of it. It’s just important for the casting people to see me out there, to show them and my agency that I’m willing to play the game. I’m willing to get out there. And that’s the bigger story here. It doesn’t even matter whether I get the job or not. I do well on my own. I’ve created my own success. But it’s important to the universe and to this town to let them know you're willing to play the game.

You mentioned politics . . . we saw the other day that the government is threatening to strip rights from trans kids. What would you say to those kids who feel as if the government is against them, and what would you want to say to the administration regarding this particular issue?

I believe that what you defend against actually becomes stronger. This movement of people who want it to go back to the way it was before . . . time does not go back. Time goes forward. Time is actually right now. So those people, they’ve all been hoodwinked, and we all knew it. We know this trick. That’s why education is so important in our culture, because you don't have to look far back in history to know who’s used these same tactics before. That’s why it’s so dangerous. And the fact that people would fall for them again? You think, ‘Wait a minute, you don’t remember the last time this happened?’ [laughs] My thing is, I think that this whole administration will actually accelerate what they’re trying to defend against. What you defend against persists, and I think it’s a call to action for all of the like-minded people like ourselves to get involved.

Ultimately—and I’ve gotta think this way—it’s probably the best thing that could have happened, because it shapes us up. Now, I’ve always been on the front lines of this stuff. I never drank the Kool-Aid. Never drank the Kool-Aid ever. But a lot of people had become complacent. A lot of the kids grew up in an age of Obama: they didn’t know any better. So I guess this is what had to happen. There will be a lot of blood before we turn this around, unfortunately.

What is step one for people who want to see the world the way Ru sees the world?

The No. 1 rule is: Don’t. Take. Life. Too. Fucking. Seriously. That is the No. 1 rule. I learned it early on and, initially, I was really heartbroken because I was taking life seriously. I couldn’t believe that my parents and people could be so cruel and so heartless. For a sweet, sensitive soul, there are stages of the evolution . . . once you uncover life’s cruel hoax, you become angry and you become mad as hell and then you become bitter. And then you become very cynical. Unfortunately, most sweet, sensitive souls stay in the bitterness and the cynicism. But the next level beyond that—if you can go beyond that—is laughter and irreverence . . . you can laugh, you can dance, you can seek out the places where you can blossom and expand, because you won’t get tied down to what other people have to say about what you’re doing.