This Might Make You Wish For 'RuPaul's Drag Race: Kids' Edition

By Kristy Puchko | TV | June 1, 2017 |

By Kristy Puchko | TV | June 1, 2017 |

Amid all the shade and make-up of RuPaul’s Drag Race, there’s a big thumping heart of a message about self-love and acceptance. It’s the motto that Ru heralds at the end of every episode: “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love anyone else?” And it’s a message that’s not only been impacting the queens on the show, but also those watching from home, including 8-year-old drag princess Lactatia Werqs, who briefly shared the stage with season six winner Bianca Del Rio at Werq The World in Montreal.

Watch this charming video to see what magic happened when this little queen was invited on stage. Guaranteed to give you life!

there was a little boy in drag at our show and bianca brought him on stage pic.twitter.com/YKkpvOEFM3

— sisky (@markrentcn) May 28, 2017

“Even though I’m not your favorite,” Del Rio quipped about Lactatia’s preference for Ginger Minj, “You’re my fucking favorite.”

The world-famous queen also gave a shout-out to Lactatia’s supportive mom, who brought her son in full drag to the sold out show. Best of Montreal followed up with this family, revealing Lactatia’s real name is Nemis Quinn Mélançon Golden, and detailing that Nemis does drag “with the support of his older sister Kashmyr Luna Higgins (14 years old) as his Senior Drag Consultant, his ‘pillar of safety’ in (drag) mother Jessica Mélançon and father-of-the-year Coriander Golden.”

It’s remarkable to not only see a young queen so confident, but also to see a family warmly embrace Nemis for exactly who he is. His parents told the outlet in a joint statement:

When Nemis is out of character he identifies as a boy and in drag as a girl. Drag for Nemis, is about the performance, the character. When he’s Lactatia, becoming her character, he’s a girl with a penis. As far as gender roles go, we’ve gifted both of our children with the ideal that there’s nothing just for girls and nothing just for boys. He grew up wearing his sisters hand me down princess costumes and fancy shoes while playing with monster trucks and riding a skateboard.

I think his biggest milestone in life or a pivotal moment was when he told us that when he grew up if he wanted to, he could be a girl with a penis (He was three and going through a pretty intense Beyonce phase).

Did we know it would lead to him being passionate about becoming the greatest drag queen the world has ever seen? No, but we were one hundred percent certain that Nemis was a natural performer, had the ability to captivate a crowd and was the most self-aware person we knew.

I recommend reading Jessica Mélançon and Coriander Golden’s full statement, because it’s beautiful, and likely to pry tears from even the chillest queen.

Could this be the next frontier of RuPaul’s Drag Race? A bevy of talent competition shows boast kid-centered spin-offs. Imagine a RuPaul’s Drag Race that folds in not just the next generation of queens, but also their supportive parents who help them hot glue their runway looks and beat their faces like any good Drag Mother should, with make-up and love. They could even invite on all-stars to play mentors!