Calpernia Addams ‘shocked’ by Drag Race’s mention of boyfriend’s 1999 murder

On Friday night’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18, the competing queens were assigned the show’s famous “makeover challenge,” in which they’re tasked with putting a random individual into drag to create a family resemblance. This season, the participants to be dragified were some very male-presenting gay cowboys.

The competing queens and viewing audience were shocked to hear one cowboy’s recollection of a friend’s brutal murder while he was serving in the U.S. Army. But possibly the person who was the most taken aback by the crime’s mention was Calpernia Addams, who had gathered with friends to watch the episode.

Addams, an actress, former showgirl, and trans activist, says she felt blindsided when the man being made over mentioned her former boyfriend, Barry Winchell, who was murdered by fellow soldiers in 1999 in a horrific hate crime. In addition to the story being brought up, photos of both Addams and Winchell were shown on screen.

The Advocate closely followed Winchell's murder case at the time.The Advocate Archive

In response, Addams sent a voice message to Race Chaser, a popular Drag Race recap podcast hosted by former contestants Alaska Thunderfuck and Willam Belli.

“I was kind of a gobsmacked this last Friday because one of the makeover subjects for the family resemblance challenge said that he was … an ex-military member who had served at Fort Campbell, KY, with Barry Winchell,” said Addams of the painful recollection. “And for those who don't know, in the 90s when I was a showgirl in Nashville, an Army soldier came down to see my show where I was hosting, and we started dating and fell in love. And then he was brutally beaten to death on the 4th of July in 1999 on the same night that I was competing in the Miss Tennessee Entertainer of the Year pageant, which I won that night.

Author, activist, and actress Calpernia AddamsJohn Sciulli/Getty Images for Los Angeles LGBT Center

“It still breaks my heart because he was a sweet young man. And that night, Justin Fisher and Calvin Glover conspired to murder Barry because they had whipped up a frenzy against him because he was … ‘dating a transsexual.’ And so that night they beat him to death. And for many years after … there were trials. The boys were put in prison who killed him. And now they're both out. They're free men, which is very frightening to me when I think about it.

“It was really a shock to see Barry’s murder brought up on the Drag Race episode, and see his picture come up and my picture come up. … I didn't know this young man who was in the makeover challenge. But, you know, I'm sure there were lots of people around Barry that I never met. I'm glad that people still honor his memory.

“And I think there's still value to be had in in letting everyone know that that kind of bigotry and hatred existed in the military. You know, I'm a veteran myself, a combat medic. And so it is a story that I'm grateful to be told — it was very blindsiding to see it, you know, sitting in the living room with my friends having cocktails, cackling over the queens and their antics. But you know, it's been 27 years almost. I guess I can't expect a trigger warning every time the story comes up.”

Cohosts Willam and Alaska expressed empathy for Addams after listening to her message and questioned why producers of the show didn’t make any efforts to contact her about the episode, especially since Addams had previously worked with Drag Race’s production company, World of Wonder.

“They know full well about the trauma that she went through,” noted Willam, questioning WOW’s ethical decision to use her story and photo without “giving her a heads up.”

Willam and Alaska discuss episode 12 of Drag Race season 18 on their podcast Race ChaserYouTube/Moguls of Media

“Because it is so terrifying, like [Calpurnia] said, to be like, ‘I'm hanging out with my friends, we're kiki-ing and having a good time.’ And then, like, bam, on the screen, probably the worst thing that's happened, you know, in your life pops up on the screen without warning,” added Alaska.

You can listen to the full episode of Race Chaser on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and most other major podcast platforms (Addams’ statement begins at around the 28-minute mark) and watch the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race on MTV.