‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Star Valentina Comes Out as a Transgender Woman: ‘I Welcome All the Love’

For her 34th birthday, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Valentina decided to give herself some peace of mind as a present, when she came out as a transgender woman in a new social media post.

In a post to her Instagram on Wednesday (May 14), Valentina celebrated her birthday by telling fans that “for some time now, I’ve been in transition.” While the former Drag Race Mexico co-host said that she had been privately transitioning, she “wanted to open and share with you all.”

“Along the way I’ve felt pressure to come forward so I’ve decided and wanted to take today to declare myself as a transgender woman,” she wrote in her post. “I welcome all the love, support and protection from my dear fans. Thank you so much.”

Valentina first came to public prominence when she appeared on season nine of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Quickly becoming a fan-favorite during her time on the show, Valentina was famously eliminated from the competition in episode nine, during what fans have come to call “Maskgate.” When the queen attempted to keep a face mask on in her lip sync against Nina Bo’nina Brown to Ariana Grande’s “Greedy,” RuPaul stopped the song and reminded her that “this is a Lip Sync for Your Life, we need to see your lips” and asked her to remove the mask. She famously replied, “I’d like to keep it on, please.”

In the years since her first Drag Race appearance, Valentina quickly became a star in the outside world. She returned to the competition for All Stars 4; starred alongside Vanessa Hudgens, Jordan Fisher, Mario and others in NBC’s live adaptation of the musical Rent; appeared in Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of In the Heights and co-hosted Drag Race Mexico season one alongside fellow drag star Lolita Banana.

Check out Valentina’s touching coming out post below: