RuPaul's Drag Race star Eureka has come out as a trans woman.
The drag performer, also known as Eureka O'Hara, has appeared on seasons 9 and 10 of the US show, and All Stars 6. Throughout her life, she has identified as a gay man, before living as a trans woman for almost five years, and then as a non-binary person. Now, Eureka identifies herself as a trans woman.
For the last seven months, Eureka has been undergoing hormone replacement therapy and has legally changed her named to Eureka D Huggard, combining her drag name with a nod to her birth name.
Related: RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 confirms guest judges
Speaking to People, Eureka opened up about how she came to the realisation whilst filming the HBO series We're Here, which she hosts with Shangela and Bob the Drag Queen.
"I'm blessed now, because I know who I am without question," she said. "Hearing the story of Mandy (on We're Here) regretting losing all that time — and all the regret and the pain that she was going through during the time of not fully being herself — was really important to me.
"When I left Mandy's house that day, I started spiralling. It just had me searching my mind: 'What is happening, what is going on?' Then I just answered myself: 'I'm trans. I'm a trans woman.' It just clicked.
"Now I'm at 31 years old, and I'm like: 'Well I don't want to be like Mandy and finally transition at 70 to be happy. I don't want to lose 40 years — I want to spend those 40 years happy.'"
Related: Drag Race and Walking Dead stars team for new movie
Eureka also explained that she wants to have breast augmentation surgery and potentially facial feminisation surgery, and is working on getting herself down to a weight where the doctors will operate on her.
"Every day, I'm becoming the woman that I strive to be — but I'm already that woman," she added. "It's just like any other female and any other person, I'm going to do what I need to do to feel even more comfortable in my skin...
"I understand that sometimes I don't fully look like a girl. I try to be patient with the outside world because at the end of the day, people that don't know us or who we are, they only perceive people as one of two things, and that's on the binary... It's more about me knowing who I am and me being OK with that."
We're Here airs on HBO in the United States and on Sky and NOW in the United Kingdom.
Interested in talking about all things Drag Race? Visit our dedicated sub-forum
