Drag queen 'LaWhore Vagistan' newest visiting professor in Harvard's Gender Studies program

Harvard University has brought on a drag queen for a visiting professor role, who performs under the name of LaWhore Vagistan. The drag queen, whose real name is Kareem Khubchandani, will be teaching multiple classes during the current school year related to drag and LGBTQ issues.

Per a press release from the school’s Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality, Khubchandani was selected as the 2025-2026 F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Associate Professor in Studies of Gender and Sexuality. In the fall term, he will be teaching a class called Queer Ethnography, while in the spring term, he will teach a class called “RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire.”

Khubchandani is an associate professor at Tufts University in both Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, as well as Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora. He has also written multiple books, including, “Decolonize Drag,” “Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife,” and his latest book, “Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties.”

His latest book is described as a "thought-provoking dialogue between scholar Kareem Khubchandani and his drag persona LaWhore Vagistan … Khubchandani delves into the lessons LaWhore’s drag practice offers about academia—shaping his approaches to research, teaching, and writing—while Vagistan reveals how Khubchandani’s scholarship influences her performances, inspiring her understanding of fashion, music, divas, and aunties."

In a 2015 piece published in Johns Hopkins University Press, Khubchandani interviewed his drag persona, revealing the meaning behind the drag stage name.

"My name is LaWhore Vagistan, my preferred pronouns are 'she' or 'aunty.' I chose 'LaWhore' because my family traces its origins to Pakistan: Lahore is an important city in Pakistan, and, well, I’m a bit of a whore. And Vagistan because I see the subcontinent as one, big, beautiful Vag ... istan. Close your eyes and visualize it: India is the uterus-vagina, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the ovaries, Afghanistan, Nepal, Burma, and Bhutan are the fallopian tubes, and Sri Lanka is a little floating labia."

This comes as President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his administration is "close to finalizing" a deal with the Ivy League school that would restore $2.4 billion in frozen federal grants. As part of the tentative agreement, the school would run a new system of trade schools. "This would be a giant trade school, or series of trade schools. It would be run by Harvard," Trump said, adding, "...they’d put up $500 million. Interest and everything else will go to that account, meaning, go to the trade school. And you know, it’s a big investment in trade schools done by very smart people, and then their sins are forgiven."