Eureka O’Hara She is now “blessed” as she lives her truth as a transgender woman.
After living in her gender identity for the past seven months, the Drag Race and We’re Here alum shared her story publicly for the first time in an interview PEOPLE.
“I am blessed now,” said the star, “Because I know without a doubt who I am.”
“It was truly magical and it was probably the easiest coming out and transition journey I’ve ever done,” she added. “I hope my story teaches people that gender is a journey and that we as humans are constantly evolving.”
Eureka re-examined her gender identity after meeting Mandy, a transgender person in her 70s, on an upcoming episode of “We’re Here.”
The Emmy Award-winning HBO series, which recently released its third season, follows Eureka and her Drag Race sisters Bob the Drag Queen and Shangela as they travel across the United States recruiting small-town residents to take part in drag shows
“It was very important for me to hear the story of Mandy regretting all the time she lost and all the regret and pain she went through during the time she wasn’t fully herself said Eureka.
“As I left Mandy’s house that day I started pacing. It just made me search in my head, “What’s going on, what’s going on?” So I answered myself, “I’m trans.” I’m a trans woman. It just clicked.
“Now I’m 31 and I think, ‘Well, I don’t want to be like Mandy and finally turn 70 to be happy.’ “I don’t want to lose 40 years, I want to spend these 40 years happily.”
When Eureka decided to transition, she leaned on her We’re Here co-stars Bob the Drag Queen and Shangela, as well as her drag mom Jacqueline St. James.
“I wanted the opportunity to tell the story with the show because Mandy was a huge influence on me. It was like I had to decide for the first time in my life how I wanted to come out because I had never had that experience before,” Eureka continued.
“I was always called gay before I knew what gay was; When I previously wanted to transition, the other people in my life and transsexuals told me that I was transsexual before I truly understood what it was. This time it was like, I have to do it my way.”
Eureka initially identified as a cisgender gay man before living as a transgender woman from ages 18 to 22. She later identified as non-binary.
The star changed her name to Eureka D. Huggard (“Eureka” was inspired by her mother Ulrike and “Huggard” is her birth name) and has been taking hormone replacement therapy for seven months.
Now Eureka wants to legally change her gender and undergo a more physical transformation.
“Every day I become the woman I want to be, but I am already that woman. “It’s like every other woman and every other person: I’m going to do what I have to do to feel more comfortable in my own skin,” she said.
“I want them to do the breast argument for me. I would like to undergo possible facial feminization surgery. I’m not sure. I get really nervous about my face, you know what I mean? Because I already have such a pretty face, I don’t want to ruin anything.”
Eureka further explained, “I’m preparing my body and myself for future surgeries because I want to be the woman I want to be.”
“I’ve lost weight and am more conscious of what I eat in my diet and I’ve been taking care of myself health-wise because a doctor told me they wouldn’t make me the size I am. .
“So that’s something I’m working on too.”
Do you need help? The Trevor Project It’s for you when you need to talk about your feelings, when you feel confusion, stress, anxiety or fear, or when you have doubts.
