Drag Race star ‘didn’t want to accept she was trans’ but says Kylie Sonique gave her crucial advice
A RuPaul’s Drag Race star has reflected on her journey to coming out as trans. (Logo TV)
A RuPaul’s Drag Race star has opened up about her identity, explaining that she “didn’t want to accept she was trans” over very real worries about whether society and her parents would accept her.
Laganja Estranja appeared in season six of the series in 2014, alongside fellow contestants BenDeLaCreme, Adore Delano, Vivacious and Bianca Del Rio. She came out as a trans woman in 2021 and has been living proudly ever since.
Laganja told Attitude Magazine about her transition: “I didn’t want to accept that I was trans. I was already such a queer, effeminate man who did drag… I kept my life very separate. I did my drag, and when the gig was over, I would get out of the clothes, out of the make-up, keep my beard, and really try to assimilate to society as a gay male.”
She added that living through the COVID-19 pandemic whilst navigating her identity was the catalyst to living as her most authentic self.
“For so long, I always said, ‘I’ll wait until my parents die. I can’t put them through this.’ But something changed, and I realised I wanted my parents to know me. I wanted them to see the brave, bold, beautiful child they had raised, who happens to be transgender.”
She also said that Drag Race veteran Kylie Sonique – who became the first-ever trans winner on the series – gave her crucial advice about navigating her trans identity.
“When we first met on the Mickey’s patio in West Hollywood, I came up to her and said, ‘I think I’m trans. What do I do?’ She gave me the advice just to take it step by step and to take it slow.”
The series has come a long way from its trans-exclusionary roots, with Laganja telling PinkNews previously that seeing more trans women on the show coming out is a “beautiful thing”.
“We see people more and more comfortable to be themselves not only in the outside spaces in the clubs but also in the forms of contestants on the show,” she said. “I think this is something that has existed for a very long time… but it’s been very hard to talk about.”
Laganja now appears in Drag House Rules, the new reality series on OUTtv, alongside Jujubee, Manila Luzon, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Rock M Sakura, Biqtch Puddin’ and Tammie Brown.
Episode one of Drag House Rules is available to stream now on OUTtv.
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