After a series of TikToks went viral by Canada’s Drag Race star Stephanie Prince calling several queens by their “government names”, many other artists are speaking out about just how serious the consequences are for this type of conduct.
Stephanie posted three videos where she walks around DragCon UK 2023 greeting queens like Jaida Essence Hall, Nicky Doll, Lady Camden, Lemon, Jorgeous, Rita Baga, and Icesis Couture’s reactions to her using their government names. The videos combined already have nearly 20 million views.
@stephaniesbutt Calling Queens by their government name 😂 #dragcon #dragrace #stephanieprince ♬ original sound - Stephanie Prince
Victoria Scone, who competed on Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs The World, shared on Twitter that she was called by her “government name” at the stage door of Death Drop: Back in the Habit.
Scone wrote: “At stage door last night a fan called me by that name & I’m not sure why. Perhaps I’ve never publicly said so i’m saying it now: I go by Vic out of drag. All friends, colleagues & even my partner calls me Vic.”
She continued by confirming that Stephanie checked with Victoria’s fiancé, Dani, whether she would be comfortable with participating in the TikToks at DragCon UK, though she can “only appreciate that as an individual situation”.
I will add that Stephanie was respectful to ask my partner if I would be comfortable being called my gov name on video & Dani confirmed I wouldn’t be. So I can only appreciate that as an individual situation.
— Victoria Scone BLACK TRANS LIVES STILL MATTER (@VictoriaScone) January 15, 2023
Victoria’s original tweet was retweeted by many memorable names.
“I’m betting that lovely viral video has something to do with this. If you EVER call me my out of drag name when you see me IN drag, I guarantee you will regret it - I don’t like it,” Veronica Green posted on Twitter. “Who calls Gaga Stephanie? Stage names exist for a reason!”
Silky Nutmeg Ganache shared her thoughts on the matter, saying that her government name is actually her dead name and that she is in the process of legally changing it.
“No one including my mother have the permission to call me that,” Ganache tweeted.
I know that there is a lot of chatter. Please know that my government name is my dead name. I’m in the process of changing it legally. No one including my mother have the permission to call me that. So no one try me unless you got them hands. Your only warning.
— Silky “Cancel Student Loans” Ganache (@SilkyGanache) January 12, 2023
Drag Race UK season three competitor River Medway, and season four queen Pixie Polite tweeted a gif of Will Smith with the caption: “Keep my government name, out your f*ckin mouth.”
It should be noted that some queens such as Victoria and Silky have confirmed that Stephanie did ask consent to film the video. Additionally, the caption for the third TikTok reads: “Everyone included in these videos (Part 1, 2 & 3) were willing and gave consent! Also, don’t ever come up to a queen and do this!”
Since posting the string of TikToks, Stephanie has only addressed the controversy by tweeting: “Not me being the controversial queen. AGAIN!”
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