Drag Race star Laganja Estranja has opened up about the difficult decision to come out as trans.

“I didn’t want to accept that I was trans,” she recently told Attitude. “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.”

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But during the quarantine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she had a lot of time to think.

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“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 realized 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 said.

She also said advice from Drag Race icon Kylie Sonique was critical to her coming out journey.

“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.”

While Estranja has undergone gender-affirming surgery, she said her transition “has been much more emotional and much more internal” than physical.

Estranja came out as trans in 2021, saying that her work in drag helped her explore her gender identity.

“There are so many other women around me who’ve inspired me to come forward today, and it’s because of their fight and their struggle that I’m able to really do this and say that I’m nervous, but I’m not scared,” she told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “I’m not going to live my life in fear anymore.”

She said that she had been “presenting as female for the last 10 years.” Being a drag performer made her identity “more explainable to the masses,” but now she wanted the world to know that she’s a woman.

“I do want to be able to express this at all times,” she said. “I just got my haircut – a very feminine cut – and in one week already, my life has changed. I’m able to come off stage and take my makeup off and still see a beautiful woman in the mirror. It’s powerful.”

“I want to thank all the trans brothers and sisters that came before me who fought so that my coming out could be joyous!” she wrote on Instagram. “I am so proud to identify as TRANS and to be living my truth. Happy PRIDE, you are beautiful as you are.”

A choreographer, dance instructor, cannabis activist, and drag performer, Estranja is perhaps best known for participating in season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, finishing in eighth place.

She was one of the most memed and quoted queens of that season, coming up with made-for-TV moments from the moment she entered the Werk Room saying, “Come on season 6. Let’s get sickening!”

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