These are 2 men responsible for the phenomenon of "RuPaul's Drag Race".

A little over 10 years ago, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato recorded the first season of a reality show that would change the world.

As two of the executive producers of the show, Bailey and Barbato He is the main driver of his production and his success, alongside Tom Campbell, Steven Corfe and Mandy Salangsang

The show is "RuPaul's Drag Race", and his star is, of course, RuPaul Charles, who became famous in the 1990s with his single "Supermodel (You Better Work)". He is also executive producer of the show.

Today "RuPaul & # 39; s Drag Race" is an undeniable cultural phenomenon. Not only has the show launched the career of more than 100 drag queens, but it has also created its own economy through the RuPaul DragCon, which takes place every six months in New York and Los Angeles.

At night she shows no signs of slowing down.

"Queer is universal, and there is one thing about the trail that is universal and wide," Barbato said. "I mean, it's the irony of all that, it's as if this art form that has been perceived as marginal forever is the opposite." When people have access at [drag] they connect with him because drag speaks to the same thing about everyone. "

In telephone and email interviews with HuffPost, Bailey and Barbato discussed their relationship with the art of are far from "RuPaul's Drag Race" and what should be a queer and inclusive future.

What does the art of drag mean to you both as gay men who do not necessarily train?

Bailey: Well, Randy and I've maybe slid a few times. I was in a boarding school for boys, which was otherwise a curse, in fact, but there were some benefits, say, and one was that when we were playing, it was always the boys who had to play the roles of women. It was really fantastic. I was Titania, I was the fairy queen for "Midsummer Night's Dream," which was a stretch, but I managed to do it. So we slipped a few times.

It's a feeling of freedom and a sense of liberation when you see someone on a lip sync scene. One of my default memories is Lady Bunny doing "Hot Butter" by Popcorn. It's so crazy. It's so inspiring because suddenly it opens up possibilities of everything and anything is possible. I think a lot of life is about the following rules and rules and what you can expect and what you can not expect. For me – and certainly of English origin – to see this kind of craziness of these crazy elements juxtaposed against each other, it's just very inspiring.

Barbato: I think it's, for me, it's less like what motivates me from a homosexual's point of view compared to what m & rsquo; Excites from the point of view of an outsider.

That is why I think that drag has always been underestimated and misunderstood, because it 's really about people who I feel marginalized and people' s. outside reinterpret or share their twisted perception of the world in which we live.

It's funny or provocative or outrageous, but I still find it interesting, and I can almost always connect with a drag performance because of this. I think it's less – it's not necessarily just because I'm a gay man.

Many fans of the show today are teenagers and young children. What do you hope these young fans – and even your own children – get from their investment in the "Drag Race" cultural phenomenon?

Bailey: Well, my child, Nolan, he saw a lot. He likes that. I guess what he removes – it's not like he came from a place of repression or denial. For him, I think it's the most natural thing in the world.

I hope that what he takes away from him, he will be able to take in his adult life. I hope it does not crush him and that it gives him some – I hope it gives anyone – some strength resolved to be themselves and to do their thing.

Barbato: I agree with that, and I think it's kind of a two-way inspiration or something like that.

It's as if it's inciting older people and drag queens to see young people as much as it inspires young people to see all drag queens. I think it's kind of a mutual, mutually fabulous relationship, which helps to illustrate what Ru said, many times: "The trail brings the families together."

I think, again, that there is a false perception that drag the queens are. When you enter DragCon, all of this goes away, because you see that special bond that kids have with queens and queens have with kids. It's so natural. This is fine.

Next year, I think we will continue to grow the children's area because it was packed this year and the kids had a great time. To return to your original question, what do we hope they will get out of it? All these great family values ​​that many politicians defended

Bailey: Yes, politically over the years

Barbato: If you really want to have family values, send your children to RuPaul's DragCon, and they will not leave by not judging people – they will go away by staying open. They will leave being nice. I mean all these things, because I saw him in my own children. They are also monsters. [Laughs.]

It is quite revolutionary that this program is broadcast on a traditional cable network in our current political and social climate. What do you expect from the show's function, or what work do you hope the show does in the living rooms, in Central America?

Bailey: I think you could say that it's an extension of the idea that from a queer point of view, this visibility is a good thing. Because to be seen, people can know you, maybe you understand, and I think it's about the fact that there is a TV show on the drag. For example, just a little tangentially, the documentary we did for National Geographic with Katie Couric, "Gender Revolution." National Geographic is a kind of heart channel, right? Looked on by many conservative straightforward, for example, of a certain age, and Katie Couric is America's lover, and the combination of her leaving this trip has put people in contact with something that they could have judged, but now they know a little bit more about it, and maybe they're less likely to be hostile or critical or negative. Perhaps they can see in their own families and relationships reflections on this subject.

Barbato: Often, the way to be the most political is that visibility. Just the show and its success alone, just its existence is political. What can really move the dial – especially, I think, in the current political climate of political chaos and turmoil – I really think it will be people with ties to the world. Other people.

I think that when all is said and done about "RuPaul's Drag Race", the reason for its success is the connection of the queens with these other people who are working so hard to do the same. art. It's this connection that has created success, but I think it's also this connection, that kind of connections, that can move the policy forward.

What does Pride mean to you both in 2018? [19659002] Bailey and Barbato: Every day is proud here at World of Wonder [their production company]. Pride is really the freedom to breathe and be visible, rather than having to hide and hold your breath. To be able to remember the bad old days when there was no pride and shame, it's amazing to be here now.

The theme of the HuffPost's Pride cover this year is "The future is strange". a queer and inclusive future looks and looks like you?

Bailey and Barbato: The historical reality is that queerness has been the driving force of culture. We also think that everyone is at least a bit odd because we are all unique, we are all snowflakes. We are excited about the prospect of living in a time when everyone embraces this idea and communicates with themselves!