Nikita Nguyen, professionally known as Nikita Dragun, is a 26-year-old internet celebrity. She’s a Hype House star, self-care and makeup YouTuber, and model. She rose to fame on YouTube in 2013 and has been growing her fanbase since then. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, she’s transgender.
On November 8th, 2022, Nikita Dragun was charged with a third-degree felony and was arrested at the Good Time Hotel in Miami Beach. According to NBC News, Dragun was drunk and caused a disturbance at the hotel, so hotel security called the police to have her leave. But when the police knocked on her door, she swung a water bottle at one of the officers, striking him and causing the water to spill on him.
The event wasn’t the best rep for the rising celebrity. However, does it truly represent her as a human being? Unlike how she was portrayed during that event, Nikita isn’t as rowdy or troublesome as one may have perceived. Nevertheless, according to popular opinion, she is “rude” and uses a “transgender pass” to do “whatever she wants and then calls someone transphobic if they call her out.” Moreover, Dragun has been involved in a multitude of scandals since she started being active on social media in 2013. Since then, she has been accused of blackfishing three distinct times, has faced backlash for attending pandemic parties multiple times, and so much more.
It’s not rare for internet celebrities to face scandals or even get arrested at some point throughout their career. Even if they stumble once or twice during their fame, it doesn’t necessarily say anything about their personality as a whole. After a couple of months, these events are usually forgotten about and the celebrities go back to their regular lives. If this is the case, then what is so special – or rather, controversial – about Nikita’s arrest?
As a transgender woman, Nikita Dragun was placed in the men’s unit by the Miami Police Department. This caused outrage among the LGBTQ+ community and even straight and cisgender people who disagree with transgender people being disrespected. Several people agree that even if Nikita Dragun isn’t the most likable person, her identity shouldn’t be disregarded.
Multiple facilities are separated for males and females: bathrooms, most dorms, you name it. There’s one main reason – those with male genitalia can impregnate those with female genitalia. That’s why there are separate jail units for males and females. So, when a transgender person enters the picture, it gets a bit complicated. Not all transgender people have physical structures matching their identity. In this case, do we respect the person’s gender identity or do we do the logical thing and protect those with female genitalia from getting impregnated? Sure, there are solitary cells, but that could still come across as isolating a trans person from other people of their gender — which, to be completely honest, is exactly what we would be doing. Of course, there’s no reason to go this far, right? Why would any person use their transgender identity to impregnate someone? Well, you’d be surprised.
27-year-old Demi Minor murdered her (his?) foster father by stabbing him 27 times. When put behind bars, she impregnated two women in her cell. After finding out, she was put in a solitary cell to be isolated from other females. Now, she’s fighting to be put back with other people of her gender. According to the New York Post, Demi’s own foster mother thinks Demi is a “manipulative psychopath misusing transgenderism as a ruse to get special treatment and attention in jail.” Was Demi really a trans woman who got into some messed up love triangle behind bars, or did she misuse transgender privilege to engage with the opposite sex while being arrested? I mean, jail can get a tad bit boring.
Knowing this, it would be wise to go by a transgender person’s physical structure rather than identity, right? Yes, it would be immensely disrespectful, but isn’t it more important to protect the other jail inmates? Maybe, maybe not. However, this issue doesn’t even apply to Nikita Dragun in the first place. Since coming out as transgender, Nikita has gotten numerous surgeries. Some of these include facial feminisation surgery, breast implants, hormone replacement, and bottom surgery. That last one is especially important because it means even if Nikita were to be placed in the women’s jail, there isn’t a problem because she physically cannot impregnate other women.
With all of this information at hand, it’s obvious. There was absolutely no reason for Nikita’s gender identity to be so blatantly disrespected.
There’s one less obvious aspect of this situation that is quite concerning. As you know, this issue mainly became so widespread not because a celebrity got arrested, but because of the misgendering by the Miami Police Department. One question comes to mind, though: why did it take this happening to a celebrity for this issue to come to light?
This is far from the first time this has happened. Transgender people are constantly misgendered. Sure, it can happen by mistake. But some people like to purposefully hurt transgender people by doing so. Because in the end, it’s not like anyone can force anyone to do anything — and people are aware of that. Transgender rights are also a major issue. All around the United States, and the world, there are laws that have been passed to suppress transgender rights and identities. And yes, Texas is one of those states – including our beloved school district, Frisco ISD.
FISD’s board voted 7-0 for students to use bathrooms associated with their assigned gender at birth, directly violating federal policy which states that they shouldn’t “exclude transgender students from sex-segregated facilities that align with their gender identity”. If transgender people aren’t respected out in the world, school would be a safe haven, right? Yeah, no.
If this has been happening for so long, how come a blind eye has been turned to it? There have been numerous revolts, articles, and so on written about this issue, but it took a celebrity to get people to actually somewhat care.
That’s messed up.
A lot has happened to the transgender community. A community that I am a part of. And personally, I have a lot to say about this. To be completely honest, I think gender identity isn’t the priority. I know, it’s a bit brutal, especially coming from a nonbinary themself. But there is a reason female and male facilities are separated. And I agree with it 100%.
To me, females and males are different from men and women. While female and male refer to a literal physical composition, man and woman represent the roles that come with a certain physicality. So a man could be a female, and a woman could be a male. And there are nonbinary, but you get the idea. Although I hate for transgender people to feel invalidated, I think it’s only logical that people use the facilities that match their genitalia. It doesn’t have to be all facilities – just the more sensitive ones like dorms, bathrooms, and yes, jail cells. If a transgender person gets bottom surgery and others of the like, only then it’s perfectly fair for them to use the facility they identify with because they won’t be able to defy the original intention of separation, and others would be more comfortable as well. So, I think Demi Minor should have been put in the men’s jail unit, or maybe a separate unit to somewhat spare her feelings, to start with. And on that same note, Nikita Dragun had every right to be put with other women.
Now, I know my opinion is pretty controversial. You can agree with me, or maybe you don’t. I’ll leave that up to you.
Works Cited
Diaz, Jaclyn. “A Transgender Beauty Influencer Was Put in a Men’s Jail after Her Arrest in Miami.” NPR, NPR, 10 Nov. 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/11/10/1135666239/transgender-beauty-influencer-nikita-dragun-held-miami-mens-jail#:~:text=Dragun%2C%20who%20is%20a%20transgender,makeup%20company%20called%20Dragun%20Beauty.
II, Moises Mendez. “A Complete Timeline of Every Controversy Nikita Dragun Has Been in since Her Rise to YouTube Fame in 2014.” Insider, Insider, 3 June 2021, https://www.insider.com/nikita-dragun-hype-house-race-controversies-blackfishing-youtube-2021-5.
Jakiel, Olivia. “Why Did Nikita Dragun Go to Jail? inside Her Arrest, Charges, More.” In Touch Weekly, 10 Nov. 2022, https://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/why-did-nikita-dragun-go-to-jail-her-arrest-charges/.
Kennedy, Dana. “Trans Prisoner Who Impregnated Two Female Inmates Is ‘Psychopath’: Foster Mom.” New York Post, New York Post, 5 Aug. 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/08/05/trans-prisoner-who-impregnated-two-women-is-psychopath/.