EUREKA O’HARA
“To say times were hard is truly an understatement,” says Eureka O’Hara of her East Tennessee country childhood. “So being able to provide for my family in a way we weren’t accustomed to is truly a blessing.” Though the drag star, who stands 6’4” (“and that’s without heels, y’all!”) came from humble beginnings, the resulting “survive and thrive” work ethic led her to compete on nine national stages by age 26. Now thanks to co-hosting We’re Here and several seasons on RuPaul’s Drag Race, O’Hara is part of two Emmy-nominated casts…and that’s just the beginning. O’Hara continues to make waves in television (AJ and the Queen, The L Word), music (the empowerment single “Big Mawma”), and on the stage (Women Behind Bars), and hopes to inspire everyone, especially people of size, to live their truth onstage and off. “Discovering my womanhood has been very important to me and to my everyday life,” she says, regarding her decision last year to come out as a trans woman. “Let alone my job, being able to discover my femininity as a drag queen.” O’Hara has never forgotten where she came from and she knows exactly who she is. “Now as an out trans woman, I’m able to be a better advocate,” she says, “living without fear and ready to conquer the world.”
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