Youth's Lives Every Day
Nina West is a veritable “every-queen” — an actor, singer/songwriter, producer, author, host, and activist who won the title of Miss Congeniality on the 11th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and is featured on the upcoming RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars 9. Nina made history at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2019 as the first person to walk the carpet in full drag, in support of her season; that year, RuPaul’s Drag Race won five Primetime Emmy Awards, including Best Reality Competition Show. Nina is also passionate about giving back, raising money for Trevor this year.
1. Hi Nina! We were deeply honored and thrilled to be chosen as your charity of choice for Drag Race All Stars this year. Could you share with us the reasons behind selecting The Trevor Project?
Ya know, when we were asked to select an organization, I knew almost immediately that I wanted to pick Trevor. I think the main reason is that when I was growing up, an organization like this did not exist, and I was one of those kids who really needed it. And after my own bullying story in college, I was more motivated than ever to work towards ensuring that anyone who may be LGBTQIA+ never feels alone. Trevor does life-saving work. And I want to ensure that our next generation of queer youth live to see their own dreams come true.
2. What do you think other allies can do to be the one to support LGBTQ+ young people?
I think our allies need to listen to our stories and share them. They must use their voices to speak for our community in rooms we may not have the ability to fully advocate for ourselves. I also think it is vital that our allies use their voices to show up in the voting booth to ensure our rights are fought for and protected.
3. You’ve always been a powerful advocate for mental health awareness. If you could offer one piece of advice to your younger self about mental health, what would it be?
This is tough because the subject of mental health is so vast and complicated. I know what I am feeling when I feel it, and sometimes I may not have the words to put to it, but I know it just doesn’t feel great…or right even. And when I think of my younger self, I think of all the self-inflicted turmoil I put myself through just due mainly to the fact that so many people told me I was not good enough. And when I think about that specifically, I think I would tell younger me to stop caring what other people have to say about me.
4. Finally, now that All Stars is sadly coming to a close this week what is next for Nina West?
Well, it was just announced that I will be in the new Tina Romero zombie film QUEENS OF THE DEAD with an all-star queer cast like Cheyenne Jackson, Katy O’Brien, Jaquel Spivey, Margaret Cho, Dominique Jackson, Brigette Lundy-Payne, among many others which is super exciting! And, this weekend, I will drop a new comedy music EP entitled THE VERY QUEEN! I also will be out on the road this holiday season for A Drag Queen Christmas. There is a lot happening so I am excited to start sharing some of that now!
And I also want to thank Trevor for being so supportive of me this season on All Stars. I am so proud to do this work together.
