RuPaul’s Drag Race alumnus and total angel superstar Courtney Act has pipped Conservative MP Anne Widdecombe to win this year’s Celebrity Big Brother in the UK.
Her triumphant victory comes after a season that’s given the public, both in the UK and abroad, a lot to think about. Courtney, who’s known as Shane Jenek when not in drag, spent much of her time in the house educating her fellow housemates about the intricacies of gender in a sensitive and generous way.
Courtney also took the time to (kindly) school some of the blokes in the house about the very real and important differences between drag and being transgender.
All of this took place in a house that included Widdicombe, a 70-year-old former MP who actively voted against LGBT rights. Many fans of the show considered Courtney’s victory to be as much a symbolic as a personal one.
https://twitter.com/sarahchristinah/status/958828825915416576
https://twitter.com/His_Grace/status/958839938782580736
https://twitter.com/Karl_MCR/status/959557428395339777
https://twitter.com/EthanLBruce/status/959558639735500801
THIS is why visibility, open discussion, representation, challenging people & sticking to your beliefs are important.
Thank you British public! Thank you @courtneyact for being yourself and challenging out dated views!
Mature conversation & dialogue can work! #cbb #cbbfinal
— That Awful Chris Clegg (@chrisdclegg) February 2, 2018
Maybe I’m being melodramatic but I can’t express how much @courtneyact winning Big Brother means to me and so many of us. I am ecstatic. #CBB
— D✨ (@betbinch) February 2, 2018
Boom! Acceptance triumphs over deep seated bigotry. #cbbuk #cbb @courtneyact chanté you stay! pic.twitter.com/ixDb4EmZeV
— Bainser (@bainser) February 2, 2018
@courtneyact IS A GODDAMN SKINNY LEGEND and I’m glad everyone else has caught up. #superfan pic.twitter.com/eOog3xyAvQ
— Trixie Mattel™ (@trixiemattel) February 3, 2018
We’re as thrilled as anyone that Our Courtney took home the Big Brother crown – not just because she’s Australian, but because it indicates that we might finally be moving, as a species, towards a brighter, more accepting, more joyous future.