The first time Sharon Needles tweeted the N word , shim claimed that herm account was hacked , and that since “she had sex with ‘a black’ that there was no way she could be racist” Her dumb ass doesn’t even realize that her excuse about having sex with an african american does not exonerate her from being a racist. how sad this world can be sometimes. ( She’s not even original ,as I met the FIRST Sharron Needles ten years ago) This autograph sums up shims bad character , and there is no denying herms ignorance THIS TIME. When “needles” or Phoo Phooll called two people of color on the show “the help” ,I was surprised that Rupaul didn’t have the sense to boot herm off, but a fool is a fool and if our culture believes money ,controversy,and exploitation at the expense of others is more important than kindness, morals and goodheartedness than BOO! I am so glad my instincts told me to reject Rupaul’s 3 different offers over time to appear as a judge, sing the theme opening song , and allow them to use my song “groove is in the heart” ( all offering NO money ) . My instincts were right. I could smell rotten and here is another example , while I am glad that she finally chose an artier finalist instead of eliminating the arty queens after the other earlier episodes ,however, we can not hide behind “art” or “freedom of speech” when it comes to racism.

Catiriana Reves ( Sparkles) who received the autograph above wrote an enlightening piece on racism in america and especially within the gay community. Sharron needs to step down and give back the crown. This is not some sarcastic sense of humor- this is blatant racism.. Here is the Catiriana Reyes message who paid money to be called a ….can’t even say it…..:– Lady Miss Kier www.ladykier.com

" I understand being provocative, but who signs an autograph to a person of color and uses racial epithets. The N-word doesn’t bother me because it has nothing to do with the person i am. As an anti-racist I am concerned for people who may be triggered by the use of racial slurs. I would really love to engage in dialog with Sharon Needles about her use of hate speech. I saw a video in which Ms. Needles said" i don’t hate people for how they look ,i hate them for how they act". I see this as a contradiction and I believe that using the N-word while signing an autograph to a fan is hate rhetoric. Knowing how charged that word is and using it for shock value screams racism. The first thing that a racist says is that I am not a racist. We have all heard this before.

Racism is still alive and thriving in American and the world as a whole. It exist within all groups and communities. It is an institution that we are born into and learn to navigate our every action around it. Over time people realize that certain things are wrong and work to help transform our societal injustices. The world we live in today is a much more habitat place than 60 years ago but there are still remnants of that dying behavior. As a person of color in the United States of America I have experienced racism my whole life. I feel that that is a known fact being a minority in any context. It hurts so much more when you receive that treatment from a member of your own affinity group such as my situation with Sharon Needles. I really appreciate that Sharon is not the typical run of the mill boring pretty drag queen. As a former entertainer I love it when performers make their audiences think. I really live for Ms. Needles character. I hope the she uses this platform to help our causes for equality while remembering that in the words of Dr. M. L. King Jr.that" injustice to one is injustice to all". The irony of the whole situation is that I paid to get called a Nigger but that isn’t the first or the last time I expect that



I just took a glance at the autograph and decided to share it with you. I Would like to say that in oppressed communities we model behavior that we want to be treated with but, I am sad to say that doesn’t always happen. I am not trying to condemn Sharon Needles I only want to use this as an example of what has happened in our society and even within the greater LGBTQ community. When we don’t have the hard conversations about racism, discrimination, poverty, and other injustices we are deluding ourselves into thinking that the world has changed. Laws can be changed and things can look great on paper and maybe people don’t care about the race of who you date anymore but that doesn’t mean we are living in a post racial society. We have to be vigilant in our quest to transform the social landscape of our society. We need to build upon the great legacy of people like Dr. King, Susan B. Anthony, Gandhi and Anne Braden to change our society. Anti-racism is something that takes nurturing and building, the only way to change the state of racism in America is to dialogue with one another not casting blame but by sharing, listening and experiencing each others struggles joys and pains.



I hope that this experience I had can start an ongoing dialogue about racism in this country and how to stamp it out. I would love to host a dialog about anti-racism with Sharon Needles ! I want to believe that she is not racist ,just a bit misinformed about the heinous institution of racism.“

- Catriana Reyes