Sasha Colby is the recipient of the GAY TIMES Honour for Drag Hero.
Back in January, the Hawaiian queen finally – we repeat, finally! – graced the RuPaul’s Drag Race werkroom, where she became an instant frontrunner for the crown. One of the drag community’s most revered entertainers, Sasha memorably conquered Miss Continental and went viral on various occasions – most notably with her Beyoncé medley from 2014 and performance at Sasha Velour’s Nightgowns.
Sasha more than lived up to her name with four maxi-challenge wins – more than any other competitor – and was later crowned ‘America’s Next Drag Superstar, making herstory in the process as the first trans women of colour to win the series.
When Sasha covered GAY TIMES in March, she said: “I’m not trying to sound verbose or anything, but I think Drag Race needed someone like me. It was my responsibility to represent every trans girl that I look up to and the trans girls that aren’t here anymore. It was a level of, ‘Yes, I would love to be on the show’ but it was very much, ‘I need to do this for us.’”
Following her win, Sasha has continued to conquer. Over the past few months, she’s appeared in Vogue and covered publications such as i-D, Numero Netherlands and Billboard.
Sasha’s also continued to use her platform to speak out against harmful anti-trans rhetoric and the onslaught of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills in the US, in addition to raising awareness of the fires that ravaged Hawaii in an interview on KTLA Entertainment.
“My life has changed completely and every day is different,” Sasha Colby tells GAY TIMES. “I’ve had a lot of new and exciting opportunities that have really allowed my dreams to come true.”
On winning Drag Hero, she adds: “It means the world,” she tells us. “I am honored to be a drag hero to many that feel that there isn’t a lot of hope or acceptance. Being able to be a beacon of light in dark times is quite a privilege.”
While Sasha already boasts two decades in the industry, this year truly feels like the start of Sasha Colby. We’re in our “Sasha Colby era”, if you will – and we’re taking our front-row seats to see how she’s going to conquer the world next.
Whether that’s a number-one single, Academy Award-winning role or even a Nobel Peace Prize (the sky’s the limit, babes), Sasha is capable of doing it all.
GAY TIMES Honours 2023 celebrates the individuals and organisations who have had a profound effect on the lives of LGBTQIA+ people over the past 12 months.
This year’s line-up of Honourees acknowledges people making a huge impact in music, TV, film, community and drag.
The new digital edition of GAY TIMES Magazine spotlights this year’s winners and is available to read now on the GAY TIMES app, Apple News +, Readly and Flipster.
To follow all of the action from GAY TIMES Honours 2023, check out our Instagram @GAYTIMES.
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