Taiwan\u2019s Nymphia Wind, the first East Asian to take the crown in RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race and an increasingly political figure, wowed hundreds of fans at a big homecoming performance in Taipei.
\nWearing her signature yellow outfit, Nymphia took to the stage to wild applause on Saturday night with 50 other drag queens, including fellow RuPaul\u2019s contestants Mirage and Plane Jane.
\nHer win last month has electrified Taiwan, giving a boost to the proudly democratic island, which China claims as its territory and which has limited international recognition a boost to its already firmly established liberal credentials.
\nNymphia has become an unabashed unofficial ambassador for Taiwan on the world stage and champion of its democratic, freewheeling way of life. Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage in 2019, a first for Asia.
\nThis month Nymphia put on a riotous, emotional performance for outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen at the presidential office, and last week she took part in massed protests against contentious parliament reforms.
\n\u201cMy stance is the same: that we need to safeguard the democracy that we have fought so hard to gain,\u201d she told reporters before headlining the International Drag Festival in Taipei. \u201cI think we should stand up to defend what we care about.\u201d
\nShe added: \u201cI\u2019m still adjusting to everything I\u2019ve experienced. It happened so fast. I\u2019m proud to take on the responsibility of queen.\u201d
\nNymphia was already a well-established artist on Taiwan\u2019s thriving drag scene, often wearing over-the-top outfits inspired by bananas, and has done shows at Taiwanese temples and photo shoots at wet markets dressed as a banana.
\nHer win has inspired others, including her best friend.
\n\u201cWhat we need to do is be ourselves, let everyone knows that everything we are doing is for art,\u201d said Chiang Wei, 26.
\nWhile Taipei hosts East Asia\u2019s largest Pride march every October, the community has occasionally faced hostility from conservative groups.
\nVera Yang, 27, who watched Nymphia and the other drag queens at the show on Saturday, said she had become more courageous to express herself after watching her journey on the show.
\n\u201cI feel like I see myself in there. I am not a person who is good at expressing myself due to the environment I\u2019m in, but after seeing what she\u2019s done, I feel that I can give it a try regardless of whether it will succeed,\u201d she said.
\n(Reuters)Drag Queen. Taiwan, Nymphia Wind, RuPaul’s Drag Race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nymphia Wind, the first East Asian winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, returned to Taiwan for a homecoming performance in Taipei. She is now seen as an unofficial ambassador for Taiwan and a champion of its democratic values, having participated in protests and performed for the outgoing President. Nymphia’s win has inspired others in Taiwan’s drag community to be themselves and express their true selves, despite occasional hostility from conservative groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[302,1915,403,486,2460,1810,11255,203,6626,2497,187,2225,7776,34,429,11256,4593,1799,3138,11205,4843,577,10845,3255,5515,11257,6388,6748,1513,4778,2392,618,6305,9478,18],"class_list":["post-13200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-art","tag-artist","tag-asia","tag-china","tag-community","tag-democracy","tag-drag-race-queen","tag-environment","tag-fans","tag-festival","tag-international","tag-international-recognition","tag-march","tag-markets","tag-marriage","tag-nymphia-wind","tag-office","tag-parliament","tag-performance","tag-plane","tag-president","tag-protests","tag-recognition","tag-reforms","tag-responsibility","tag-rupauls-drag-race","tag-safeguard","tag-same-sex-marriage","tag-sex","tag-taiwan","tag-thriving","tag-top","tag-who","tag-wind","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n