Gigi Goode best known for their run on RuPaul’s Drag Race came out as trans-nonbinary in a video shared on Instagram on Sunday.
The season 12 runner-up says she began her transition earlier this year, noting she prefers she/her pronouns. However, while recovering from facial feminization surgery, opened up to her fans and followers about the experience.
“Around eight months ago in January, right at the beginning of the year, I decided to begin the process of hormone replacement therapy,” she said in the video.
“Which for those of you who don’t know, is the process of taking estrogen and testosterone blockers, depending on the person, as a means of bringing in the woman and pushing out the man.”
Goode shared that her search for identity was largely due to the amount of time she had to contemplate during the pandemic. “I think that this whole pandemic, leading up to that January point when I made that decision, was so crucial to me,” she said. “It gave me a lot of time to think and reflect.”
Previously, she came out as genderfluid last April during her appearance on Drag Race.
“I don’t think I’ve ever said this out loud, but I think I’m fluid,” she said on the show. “Sometimes I identify as more male and sometimes I identify as more feminine. I think that I’m both… and I’m neither.”
Today, while she notes in the video that she still identities as genderfluid, Goode also admits to “leaning more towards the nonbinary side of that.”
“If the world hadn’t shut down, and I was going on tour, I really wouldn’t have been able to process it further,” she said in the video. She also credits the HBO Max show Veneno, specifically its characters and actresses, with helping her to better understand her identity.
“I knew when I started that I wanted this to be a journey that I was going on by myself on my own without any input from the outside world,” she said, noting the only people she told before Sunday were her mother and a few close friends.
Goode then lightly discusses her facial feminization surgery before noting she’s in the process of legally changing her name to “Gigi.”
Since the video went public, not only has Goode received much love from her fans, but also from fellow Drag Race queens too! Friends like Aja, Aquaria, and Valentina have all expressed their love and congratulations for the newly out queen.
After posting her video — which is full of positive comments — Goode tweeted, “Feeling all the love today. Thank you so much.”
Feeling all the love today ❤️🔥
— the “e” is silent (@thegigigoode) August 29, 2021
Thank you all so much