Jinkx Monsoon Voiced a New Steven Universe Gem, Ignites Heated Debate

Photo: Instagram

Jinkx Monsoon made a guest appearance on the new season of beloved LGBT-friendly animated series, Steven Universe!

At San Diego Comic-Con last summer, lucky fans were the first to witness a special sneak peek of the episode, where Monsoon's guest appearance was revealed. Through some detective work, fans determined that the voice of the gem Emerald is in fact, RuPaul's Drag Race Season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon!

(Spoilers ahead!)

In the short clip below, Steven heads back to homeworld to save his friends, we see Lars as we've never seen him before, and we meet a new homeworld gem: Emerald.

Jinkx has been begging creator Rebecca Sugar to get a part on the show for years, even singing Steven Universe songs at their shows, and it looks like all the hard work paid off! But Jinkx's part has also met criticism from some fans of the series.

Gems are a non-binary alien species who are usually voiced by women. Many people thought the drag queen shouldn't have been given the part.

The Steven Universe fandom coming for Jinx Monsoon now because she's voicing a gem. Gotta love people crying transphobia at a trans person.. — Hamish Steele (@hamishsteele) July 24, 2017

The Gems are meant to be non-binary - and we actually finally have a non-binary person voicing one and yall get mad. :/ — Hamish Steele (@hamishsteele) July 24, 2017

The Gems are all femme presenting non-binary aliens and and SU fans seem to believe every drag queen is a transphobic "man in a dress" act. — Hamish Steele (@hamishsteele) July 24, 2017

The backlash seems to have made its way to Jinkx, who posted a series of tweets addressing their gender identity.

Because this apparently needs to be repeated... I am male bodied, I prefer to identify as non-gendered/non-binary. I prefer They/Them. — Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) July 24, 2017

I came out as NB/non-gendered almost 4 years ago. I have privately identified under the Trans umbrella since my teens. — Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) July 24, 2017

I spoke out on a trans matter 4 years back, and someone encouraged me to come out, in an effort to enlighten. I did and I'm glad I did. — Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) July 24, 2017

I do not get upset when people use the wrong pronouns for me as long as it is not a malicious attack on my gender. — Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) July 24, 2017

I choose to educate rather than get upset. I choose to enlighten people rather than attack them. — Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) July 24, 2017

In drag, I prefer She/Her. :) and frankly, she/her always works for me. My future is female. — Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) July 24, 2017

Despite the drama, fans are beyond excited the Drag Race alum has a part on the show, especially Jinkx!

It’s official! I voiced Emerald in one of my favorite shows: Steven Universe! Gigantic thanks to @rebeccasugar who gave me this chance and made my dreams come true! Here’s hoping this is the beginning of a wonderful love affair with @cartoonnetwork pic.twitter.com/1PI2XlYnW3 — Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) January 7, 2018

Catch new episodes of Steven Universe on Cartoon Network!