Drag Race star Gigi Goode comes out as trans non-binary
The season 12 alum has opened up publicly about her transition for the first time.
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Instagram/@thegigigoode
RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Gigi Goode has come out publicly as trans non-binary.
Speaking directly to her followers in an Instagram video four days after undergoing facial feminisation surgery, the Drag Race season 12 alum said she wanted to address the journey she’s been privately embarking on since the beginning of 2021.
During her season, Gigi came out as gender-fluid – a term she says she still identifies with.
“Bringing in the woman, and pushing out the man”
On Sunday (30 August), Goode revealed that in January she decided to start the process of hormone replacement therapy, explaining that she was “bringing in the woman, and pushing out the man.”
Reflecting on the last year and a half, Goode says it was such a “crucial” time for her and it gave her “a lot of time to think.” After coming out as gender-fluid on season 12 of Drag Race, Gigi says she still identifies as such, “but more on the non-binary side of that”.
“It was a realisation that I didn’t really have much time to process as the episodes were airing. And so, I think 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 continues.
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She goes on to say that having so much time provided a lot of realisations, one of which came from watching the TV show Veneno, which tells the story of Spanish transgender star Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez, known as “La Veneno”.
“The actresses who played those characters in that show, like, completely […] opened my mind up to who I am and I guess who I’m supposed to be. To me, that is a trans-non-binary person.”
Gigi says she’s been going through a lot of changes over the last 8 months and explain the reason she hasn’t shared their story sooner, which she recognises could have helped people, is partly due to “the influence that strangers on the internet have on these types of situations.
“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 side world,” adding that the only people that knew what was going on was her mum and friends.
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Gigi then reveals that the surgery she’s recently had was facial feminisation surgery or ‘FFS’ and that while she identifies as trans-non-binary, she prefers using she/her pronouns, which she’s “more comfortable with”. The performer is also legally changing her name to ‘Gigi’ – something she says is proving to be a long process – but asks people to call her Gigi from now on.
Coming to the end of her video, Gigi explains that she felt it was the best time to share her story at this point in her transition.
“I’m excited to let you all in on it […] and I hope you all understand that I wasn’t trying to keep you away from this forever, but that I really just needed this time to myself to figure this out for me and to be able to stand on solid ground when I come out to you now.”
“LOVE YOU SO SO MUCHHHHH”
Gigi has been met with an overwhelmingly positive reaction to her video, with Drag Race Season 13 star Gottmik commenting: “LOVE YOU SO SO MUCHHHHH” and Aquaria commenting: “So excited for you diva!! Embrace the love”.
Speaking to Attitude in 2020, Gigi said, “I’ve known I was different ever since I can remember.
“I don’t have many childhood memories from a young age but, according to my mum, I’ve been aware of my gender identity since age three or four.
“She told me that one day we were in the car singing our go-to, ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’, when she heard me interrupt and ask ‘Why did God make me a boy? I’m supposed to be a girl!’
“Needless to say, that planted the seed of suspicion that I might not be like the other boys…”
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