Culture

‘Deciding to choose myself’: Drag Race star Jade Jolie proudly comes out as trans

By Alice Morey

9th October 2023

Jade Jolie has announced on Twitter that she is transgender.

Jade rose to fame on RuPaul’s Drag Race season five, where she finished in eighth place, appearing on The Boulet Brothers Dragula season four and being a Taylor Swift impersonator.

In a simple one line statement she said: “Deciding to choose myself and move forward with my transition.”

The announcement was met with swathes of support. One fan said: “So happy and proud of you”. Another wrote: “Congratulations girl welcome to the trangels”.

“I love you sm queen,” a fan added.

The Taylor Swift lookalike has appeared alongside her musical muse in LGBTQIA+ summer anthem ‘You Need To Calm Down’, in the 2019 music video.

Taylor, to further show support for the community and continuing on her message of inclusivity, went on stage to accept her Video of The Year award alongside an entourage of drag queens, including Tatianna, Trinity The Tuck and A’Keria C Davenport who all, also, appeared in the music video.

This moment became an internet sensation when Grease legend John Travolta incorrectly went to present the award to Jade after mistakenly identifying her as the singer-songwriter.

Celebrated for her honesty – Jade became a fan favourite during her time on Drag Race, making history as one of the first to be open about her time as a sex worker, something she has defended all through her career.

“You know, as far as that goes, I’m never going to regret anything I had to do,” Jade explained to Boy Culture in 2013. “I had to make life decisions when I was young, to get by, to get to where I am now.

“So I support everyone. You can come from somewhere like that and to be where I am now, so just don’t ever give up on yourself and don’t let anyone get you down.”