If you’ve ever watched an episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” or scrolled through social media, odds are you’ve tea spilled. Popular especially among young people in the LGBT community, the phrase ‘spill the tea’ refers to sharing an especially juicy piece of gossip. In recent years, it has become extremely popular on social media to spill the tea, especially in a playful way among friends.
Despite its contemporary popularity, the term has actually been around since the 90s among Black drag communities and initially had nothing to do with the beverage. In fact, the expression began with just the letter ‘T,’ which stood for truth.
While the letter form ‘T’ was sometimes used much the same as it is today, it also held a secondary, more important meaning to the communities that coined the term. In one of the first literary works to use this expression, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a Black drag performer uses the expression ‘T’ to refer to the truth of her identity.
In a time when transgender people were far less accepted into society, the term allowed them to find others like them without fearing exposure. Though “spilling the tea” is extremely popular on social media and in conversation, the majority of people are unaware of the historical significance behind the phrase. But long before teens were spilling their drinks, queens were spilling their truths.
So next time you spill the tea, give a thought to the past while you’re shading the present. For Annenberg Media, I’m Jack Reid.