“RuPaul's Drag Race” Alums Celebrate LGBTQ Herstory Month and Their AAPI Pride (Exclusive)

'Drag Race' winners Nymphia Wind, Raja and Priyanka are joined by other Asian/Pacific Islander standouts from the series and share their stories

October is LGBTQ Herstory Month and to celebrate, PEOPLE caught up exclusively with six standouts from RuPaul's Drag Race.

This year, Asian drag excellence is being spotlighted, with Asian/Pacific Islander queens Jujubee, Kahmora Hall, Nymphia Wind, Plastique Tiara, Priyanka and Raja donning red (an auspicious and celebratory color across many AAPI cultures) for a historic Erik Carter photo shoot.

Throughout the month, this piece will be updated with individual photos and interviews from the shoot.

But to kick off LGBTQ Herstory Month, each queen shared her coming out experience. Drag queens often talk about a double coming out, first as queer and later as a drag artist. Read their stories below:

Jujubee (3rd place, RuPaul's Drag Race season 2, All Stars season 1)

"I could never hide the fact that I was a gay man," said the Lao drag artist. "I find that as a big blessing because I didn't have a choice. When I came out it was Thanksgiving and I was 15. I'm 40 now — I know I don't look it — Asian don't raisin!"

"The assimilation of Laotian culture and American culture happened, so it was papaya salad and a turkey and stuffing. And I just kinda said, "Hey, I'm gay.' And my auntie looked at me and said, 'Just get your food, we already know.' " Juju recalled. "And with coming out as a drag queen, I think they just saw me come home one night [in drag] and they were like, 'Wow, you look great.' And that was it."

"Maybe my family is not the stereotypical family but it's mine and I enjoy it. My grandma loves my drag. She watches Drag Race randomly; I'll show up at the house and she's watching me. I don't know if I'm her favorite [queen] but I am her favorite grandson!"

Kahmora Hall (13th place, RuPaul's Drag Race season 13)

"As a queer Asian person, growing up being feminine was looked down upon so it was very difficult to come out to my parents," the Vietnamese-American queen shared. "But when I did, there was a sense of relief."

"But when I had to come out again as a drag queen [at 28], because I was a lot older and my parents were a lot older, they honestly took it pretty well. They were like, 'Okay, you're an adult now. Just be safe and make the right decisions.' "

"And I was very impressed by that because when they immigrated here in the '80s, all they knew about gay people were HIV and AIDS," she explained. "And so that was when I first came out as a gay man they were so worried about me. They thought I was going to get sick."

"At the time I came out — I was 20 years old — I didn't understand why they were feeling that way. But as I got older, I understand now. So now, when I'm upset at my parents, I take a step back and think about where they come from, what are they experiences and what they know about LGBT history."

Related: Drag Race Star Who Wore Viral Banana Outfit to Emmys Reveals Kim Kardashian Inspired Look (Exclusive)

Plastique Tiara (8th place, RuPaul's Drag Race season 11)

"I'm the only queer person in my family," said the Vietnamese-American immigrant. "I was very much the black sheep of the family. I grew up very alone. It was very hard because I knew I was different. It was a leap of faith for me to come out and go on Drag Race."

"When I came out to my parents, it was not received very well," she admitted. "It's definitely a generational thing; I don't expect them to understand everything that I do like I don't understand what they do. But we love each other because we're family and we're blood-bound."

"I had a coming out for drag on one Thursday night at a local bar," the make-up artist recalled. "I bought two wigs on Amazon and I cut them up and I stacked them because I was a hair girl. The prize for winning the competition that night was you could come back the next week and perform three numbers for tips. And ever since I've kept doing it and doing it and now we're doing this! Jeff Bezos is really paying our bills. If Jeff Bezos did not exist, I would not be doing drag [laughs]."

This month, Plastique is embarking on her first solo tour in Asia, including Bangkok, Singapore and Manila.

Priyanka (Winner, Canada's Drag Race season 1)

"You never think you have to come out twice in your life," explained the South Asian queen of Indo-Caribbean descent.

"The first time, my mom was like, 'Okay, this make sense. This doesn't mean like you dress up as woman, right?' I was 21 or 22 at the time. Her initial response was, 'Cool, whatever, but how do we hide it from other people' — that immigrant family, brush it under the rug [mentality]. She's such a solutions-based thinker. She said, 'Okay if you have a boyfriend we can just tell your dad he's a friend.' "

"Then I started doing drag and my mom was supportive — she's not judgy, she came to the show, she came to the pageants. And then when I saw the audition for Drag Race, I was like, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna win this. I love drag so much; this means everyone has to know my truth."

"I auditioned, I got on, and I won. Then there's that waiting period," Priyanka continued. "Then the pandemic hit and I called my mom and said, 'People are going to be watching the show because everyone's at home and there's no content being filmed. Dad's going to see.' "

"That's when we had to really ask ourselves what are we so scared of? And when I came out to my dad, saying, 'Hey dad, so I quit my job, decided to start drag and I might win $100,000.' You could see him not get mad or angry; you could see him just get quiet."

"I could never understand that silence until just recently. Imagine having your child hide something like that. That sucks. I know we need to encourage parents to accept their kids, but also it's very important to us to understand our parents more," she explained. "Recently I asked him if he would see ever come see me do drag, because he hasn't yet. And he said 'I don't know' and he started to cry. And that's when I realized we hid this from him for so long that he didn't feel connected to it."

Thankfully, Priyanka says her dad will "absolutely" see her perform at some point. "He's so proud of me, he plays my music for his friends, he sees my drag face," she added. "But that's what double coming out does to people, you hide the first one but there's a truth you're hiding still."

Related: RuPaul's Drag Race: 5 Surprising Things We Learned from Our Set Visit

Nymphia Wind (Winner, RuPaul's Drag Race season 16)

"Luckily I have a very supportive family, and my mum and brother accepted me with open arms when I came out," recalls Nymphia, the reigning Drag Race winner. The first time my mum saw me in drag, she felt like it gave me confidence to step out of my shell, so she was very happy to see that."

Nymphia made history as the first East Asian winner of Drag Race, and was honored in her native Taiwan by President Tsai Ing-wen after she was crowned back in April.

"This is probably the first presidential office in the world to host a drag show," Nymphia told Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legalized same-sex marriage in 2019. "Thank you for your contributions to this country, so that I could grow up to be like this today," she said tearfully.

Raja (Winner, RuPaul's Drag Race season 3)

"I never really had a coming out, more of a pushing in and repression," shared Raja, who is of Indonesian and Dutch descent. "I was always flamboyant, creative, emotional, queer. It was not an option for me to not express everything within me! Drag was my hand led welcoming into the queer community. My religious parents had a more difficult time than I did I think, I found the information and people I needed to shine and flourish."

"My family grew to be more supportive as I found my confidence and “love it or leave it” attitude to anyone, family included. We (my family) are intensely close because of our own journeys, our bond in culture and spirituality. I’m fortunate to have my biological and chosen family who love me deeply."

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Check out more from the shoot below:

Previous seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race are currently streaming on Paramount+.

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