Forget the fact that the hilarious host of The Wanda Sykes Show is black, female, and openly gay -- one of her on-air sidekicks is a drag queen! Porsche, a denizen of the Fire Island performance scene since 2001, now shares sidekick duties with straight comedian Keith Robinson on the weekly late-night talk show, which premiered Saturday, November 7. New Yorker Brant Kaiwi, who based his large and lovely drag persona on the girls he grew up with in Austin, Texas, tells Advocate.com why he’s flaunting his sexuality so his boss doesn’t have to.

Advocate.com: How did the first episode of The Wanda Sykes Show go for you?
Brant Kaiwi: Oh, it felt fantastic! The show itself was easy; it was the rehearsal and everything else leading up to it that was hard because things were changing minute to minute. But working with Wanda is a blast. How could you not have fun with her?

Why shouldn’t we switch over to Saturday Night Live during your show?
Because you never know what we’re going to do next, and you never know what’s going to come out of Wanda’s mouth. SNL has a lot to offer, but our show has a much different format. It’s not sketch; it’s more like life.

And SNL doesn’t have a drag queen.
Well, not a good one.

How does it feel to be representing drag queens on a major network talk show?

Honestly, when Wanda said she wanted me to do this, I thought, I’m either going to be loved or lynched. But the more we got into the rehearsals, it was like, You know what? Fine, you’re a drag queen. Play with that, but we’re going to go so much further that it won’t even matter anymore.