Drag Race star Adore Delano comes out as trans: ‘It feels so empowering’
She spoke of going “from dysphoria to euphoria”
RuPaul’s Drag Race and American Idol favourite Adore Delano has come out as trans in a powerful clip on social media.
Adore, 33, posted an emotional video on Wednesday (July 26) detailing her journey so far on her Instagram profile.
She explained she wanted to address “a lot of talk about my body and questions about my gender” sparked online in recent months.
“I wanted to let everybody know that I am transitioning, and I kept it really of hush-hush the first three months because I wanted to go through the beginning stages of the puberty privately,” Adore said in the clip.
“I’m living in my world now, and it feels so empowering”
She went on to speak about having been sober for the past two years and how this has helped to navigate her during her transition.
Adore added: “I’ve found that it’s been very enlightening and has made me probably the happiest I’ve ever been in my adult life,” and has managed to go “from dysphoria to euphoria”.
Adding onto this, she gave more context to her story, having come out as bisexual aged 12, then coming out to her mum – who was supportive – as trans while at high school.
However, when she ended up on American Idol, she instead “suppressed everything”.
The recording artist continued: “I threw it away, I burned it. I reinvented myself into something that was so uncomfortable – it was almost like a sacrifice to get everything I wanted and it almost made sense to myself as a 16-year-old. And then I got on the show and then carried on the storyline to Drag Race.”
She gave a very positive statement around her current mindset: “I’m living in my world now, and it feels so empowering, and it feels so good. It feels so liberating.”
“I’m going to be having surgery in November, so I’m probably going to look a little different,” she explained. This will be followed by taking some time off in early 2024 for “major surgeries”.
“I am transgender,” she said at the end. “I’m going by she/her. They still feels a little cute, but she/her just feels yummy on this cupcake.”
The drag performer was immediately met with tonnes of love in the comments.
Drag Race judge Michelle Visage wrote: “Texting you princesa!!!! I’m so happy for you could BURST.”
UK franchise favourite Bimini added: “So proud of you angel. I wish you all the best and can’t wait for another Kiki with you.”
Courtney Act also shared her love below: “I accompany you on any journey. I love you forever. My ride or die!”