Nadine Lustre Transformed Into A Drag Queen To Give Back to the Golden Gays

As pride month comes to a close, Nadine Lustre honors the LGBTQIA+ community by staging a performance for the Golden Gays.

Nadine Lustre as a drag queen? Who would’ve ever thought. Vocal and supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community, Nadine has partnered with TaskUs to hold a concert for the benefit of the cornerstones of the community, the Golden Gays. Most of the older drag artists and elderly folks have been affected by the pandemic and with a platform as strong as Nadine’s, this was her way of not only supporting their trailblazing artistry, but also to actually give back to them and help them build a forever home.

You’d think it would end there? Always up to task, she enlisted the help of drag queen, Min Ortiz, to do her makeup was beat for the gods, as well as hairstylist Paul Nebres to make sure her weave was snatched. Meanwhile, a pool of Filipino designers from the community were enlisted to create her outfits. Below, we take you through the process of Nadine Lustre unleashing her inner drag queen for a day.

_EBE4338 - NYLON MANILA — Embellished mesh jumpsuit by NERIC BELTRAN

THE DRAG-ING PROCESS

Nadine Lustre Drag queen transformation — Hairstylist Paul Nebres sculpting the blonde wig

If the blonde inches look familiar, it’s because hairstylist Paul Nebres used the exact wig from Nadine’s NYLON Manila cover shoot. Paul shares that initially, there was going to be a wig reveal ala Brooke Lynn Hytes in RuPaul’s Drag Race, but the time didn’t permit, so instead, he secured the blonde wig on Nadine all throughout.

As for makeup artist Min Ortiz, giving Nadine that experience of being in drag made him feel proud and grateful. As a drag queen, Min shares, “I’m grateful because she explored the art of drag, which made me or us feel that what we do matters.”

In this mini concert experience that Nadine Lustre has graced us with, she knew it was part of her responsibility to fight for these causes just like how her favorite icon Lady Gaga once said she wanted to “inject gay culture into the mainstream” as it is not an underground tool for the artist. Nadine herself has professed her love countless times to the community by attending pride march pre-COVID and donating to the organization.

_ADC2068 - NYLON MANILA — Feathered hat by USHI SATO Heart corset by CLOSET BY MIKA Sequinned pants by HM

As cliché and overused as it sounds, pride isn’t all rainbow flags and glamour. For Paul, “pride month for me is not just the celebration of all the LGBTQIA+ but also a fight for equality that’s being deprived specially to us Filipinos.” It’s a movement that isn’t only reserved for a month, it’s an everyday protest. For Min, it’s a “reminder that everyone has the ability and freedom to be who they truly are and openly love the person they choose to love. Pride shouldn’t only be celebrated and remembered every June, it should be every single day.” And for Nadine Lustre, raising the flag is and will always be part of her greater cause.