6 Filipino drag queens to know: as RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Manila Luzon launches new reality TV show Drag Den, follow these LGBT icons on Instagram quick
- Manila Luzon will host Drag Den, a series showcasing the Philippines’ drag scene, which stems back to 1960s beauty pageants and even pre-colonial shamans
- Drag queen Vinas Deluxe has performed with local celeb Nadine Lustre while Marina Summers used to be a TV producer for ABS-CBN
In July, Filipino-American Drag Race alum Manila Luzon announced that she will be hosting Drag Den, a reality TV series showcasing drag culture in the Philippines – and the first drag queen competition series of its kind in the country.
Although the Spanish and American occupations quashed the country’s shamanistic traditions, drag burlesque performances also emerged during that time, according to Scout magazine. Fast forward to the 1960s, and drag began to enter the Philippine mainstream: think films and beauty pageants.
Drag might have been pigeonholed as nothing but a comedy act in the 2000s, but the Filipino drag queens of today have gone above and beyond to show that drag is not just about fancy clothes and make-up, lip-synch performances and funny antics. In the process, they’ve transformed from gay bar performers to outspoken influencers with an ever-expanding audience.
It takes a lot of courage to come out dressed to the nines in broad daylight, to face the harsh world of discrimination, just to express our artistry and who we are
