“And what we’ve done to the world is completely taint it and complicate it beyond repair.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Congratulations on your announcement.
It must feel so liberating to talk about it publicly.
Willow Pill walks the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 14 runway.VH1/World of Wonder
What has the response been like so far?
WILLOW PILL:I made that post after I’d already told most of my close family and friends.
You forget that you’re a D-list celebrity.
[Laughs]
I appreciated everyone commenting supportive things.
I’m also trying to get to the point where I don’t always need that.
I think I needed to post it for myself….
It felt more like relief than anything.
How long had this been something you’d been open about in your close circle?
Quite a while, with close friends for maybe two years.
These are conversations I had with some of the contestants on the show, off-camera, likeBosco.
We had many conversationsabout being trans because we weren’t quite ready for that to be public TV knowledge.
It might be difficult for people who haven’t had the experience to understand what that means.
Can you elaborate on why those things are so closely linked on your trans journey?
I haven’t talked to anyone who’d been through medical trauma through chronic illness who’d also transitioned.
When I was young, I felt like a medical object.
Constant doctors' visits, blood draws, needles, and machines used on my body.
It’s insidious, you don’t realize it until later in life.
It’s difficult to realize things like being trans because there’s a barrier.
Was there a turning point that gave you more clarity and comfort to accept your identity?
I don’t think I had a single point where everything made sense about my transness.
It’s a long practice of having to relearn a lot about your body.
This road isn’t one full of epiphanies, but rather the practice of thought.
I had to start thinking about what I can do about it.
It’s been a confusing, difficult time.
That was an important part of your statement.
People sometimes feel like they can come out only when they have all the answers.
I didn’t have all the pieces together to land on one trans identity.
I was waiting to come out once I had it all figured out.
I don’t think this will ever be figured out in my life.
I’d be concerned if somebody said they do have everything figured out.
As your sisters have all said in my recent interviews with them, it’s a process.
It’s fluid, and you’re not beholden to anyone but yourself.
The support from your cast is beautiful.Kornbreadrevealed last week that she got a tattoo of you.
To confirm: That’s a real tattoo?
And did she tell you that she was going to get it?
That isnotan airbrushed tattoo.
She did tell me she was going to get it.
I called her, we talked about it, we laughed.
The next day, it was in the news.
I forgot we’re D-list celebrities that people talk about.
What did you think when you first saw it?
What did it mean to you that she chose that particular image of you to put on her body?
For her to get a tattoo of my whimsical side, it’s beautiful.
Visibility is power andfive trans people on season 14is a huge deal.
I’m not quite sure of where I want to go with this part of my journey.
It’s important that trans people are shown dealing with life in general.
People often think that trans people wake up every day and think, “I’m trans.
I’m going to do trans things.”
It’s well-rounded life.
It’s not a one-facet story.
I’m still figuring out where I want to fit that political side into my life.
So, we can’t speak for Kerri!
Who knows who will be next.
I didn’t receive a lot of advice along the way as far as medical PTSD.
I had to discover it on my own.
It’s not fun at all.
It’s a lot of responsibility and I don’t always know what to do with it.
It’s been important to get these things off my chest because I can’t hold them in forever.
