I feel like a big part of the show is based on gay men being aggressive towards other gay men and using it as humor. "Shade" is a big thing, right? I might be wrong, but this is the impression I always got from the few parts I've watched, from what people quote from the show, from online interactions, etc.

For me the issue with Drag Race being popular is that people try to emulate their behaviors. In specific, gay men emulate their negative behaviors towards other gay men. Frankly I'm really against this status quo of irony and sarcasm, against creating ambients where everything is always being negative but "it's just a joke". This is what leads to people saying "kill terfs" and then using the "it's just a joke" excuse when someone confronts them.

Internalized homophobia is a common issue among gay men, and for me that's why it's so easy to tell gay communities that we're in the wrong, that we must support other groups because we aren't as oppressed, etc. For me the popularization of this gay-versus-gay narrative (even if under the ruse of "humor") only helps to make this internalized homophobia stronger.

It's also an easy defense against homophobia. I've seen countless people having a double standard towards this issue. When a gay man says gay men aren't into female genitals, it's a huge attack against trans women, no matter how respectful he tries to be. But the LGBTQ+ can say awful, violent and homophobic stuff against gay men, and when a gay man complains it's easy to say they're just joking, that it's just a meme, etc.