BEAUTY / Norse Queen

Veronica Darinka shot by Lontano

What is your Nordic heritage?

As far as I know my grandparents are Italian and Slovenian, but I often get told that I look Nordic by my friends and colleagues. I wanted to explore those features that catch the attention of people and emphasize it in my drag.

How was it for you growing up in Chile?

I have really good memories of my childhood. I can't really compare it with another countries because I've never lived anywhere else. I must say that I was lucky and I grew up a loved person by friends and family.

What do you do for a living?

I am a doctor. I just finished my residency and I am now a psychiatrist, so basically I'm crazy.

When did you first do drag?

I just started. These pictures where from one of my first experiences in drag. In these pictures I look so happy because I was getting to explore this side of me that I wanted to bring to the surface for so long and I was surronded by friends. We had an amazing time that night.

Do you identify as a bear?

I identify myself as a human being most of the time. I don't really believe in labels, much worse if this label is to described a determined amount of hair on your body and the size of it. It doesn't make any sense to me to be called something because of my body type. I can only imagine how transgender people might feel when they get categorized as "man" or "woman" for the way they look.

Does your body and beard hinder or inform your drag?

My beard is a big part of who I am for both Ricardo and Veronica. It's what gets people's attention. Here in Chile it's not really frequent to ran into a bearded queen, so I think being a bearded drag queen is something kind of new and actually opens door.

Would it mean anything to you to see a bearded queen on RuPaul'sDrag Race?

If there is something we learned from RuPaul is that it takes a lot more then to look feminine and fishy to win the crown, so it's not about that anymore. Bearded queens should particiate and some of them might surprise us in a really good way! You might get the idea that a bearded queen is not versatile because her face is always gonna look the same, but there is so much you can do with your beard to achieve many different looks that slay. Also, it would be a nice way to show how inclusive the community can be -- where everyone gets to do what makes them happy regardless of their body size or facial hair.