“The Kindness Queen” is one of many titles that have been bestowed upon Latrice Royale since she first burst onto the scene as one of Drag Race’s brightest and most beloved stars.
Now, as one of the newest hosts of HBO’s We’re Here, Latrice has teamed up with fellow drag notables Sasha Velour, Priyanka and Jaida Essence Hall to spread more kindness (and queerness) around the country.
Season 4 of the show takes direct aim at the threat to our beloved drag, nonbinary, and trans communities posed by those seeking to wash out our rainbowed narrative and miscategorize it as a threat to children and citizens.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Latrice was born in the Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles and raised by a single mother in the early 1970s.
As discussed earlier this year on Maddy Morphosis’s Give it To Me Straight, before joining the color guard at her local high school, Latrice had to seek student body approval prior to becoming the school’s first-ever male member. This, she says, was what lead into drag.
Her color guard career (yes, baton twirling does not stop on the sidelines of the high school football field!) led her to Fort Lauderdale, where she began entertaining friends with her impression of In Living Color’s Wanda.
In 2011, Latrice got her “big break” when she was featured on Season 4 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Though she didn’t take home the superstar title, she was crowned Miss Congeniality in the season finale, a title that has followed her ever since.
In 2023, it was announced she was joining We’re Here, a show dedicated to highlighting drag talent across America.
Now it its fourth season, We’re Here has taken a more poignant and powerful tone as the drag artform continues to be attacked by conservatives and right wing activists who want to vilify queer artists simply for being their authentic selves.
By joining the show, Latrice is helping to lead the force against those seeking to cast a shadow on our beloved drag heroes, bringing attention to the smaller queer communities of America, where Pride can sometimes feel more like an idea than a time to fill the streets, celebrate, and shine.
Latrice has described it as her mission to “inspire and motivate people to be their authentic selves, to live freely and happily, and love who they are.” And, she has said, to “make change happen.”
At a time when kindness can seem in short supply, the light exuding from our Kindness Queen isn’t taken for granted. Thank you, Latrice, for not sashaying away… We need you to stay right here!
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