Gottmik Was 'Nervous' to Compete in Drag Race Due to Its Trans History

Gottmik made history as the first trans man to compete on RuPaul's Drag Race — but being the first isn't always easy.

The L.A.-based performer and makeup artist, who uses she/her pronouns when in drag, revealed that she was "extremely nervous" to compete on the show, which has had only a small handful of trans contestants compete during its 13-season run. So she did some vetting.

"Luckily, [I] do makeup for a lot of drag queens and know a lot of the trans women that were on the show before me, and they told me their experience. And for the most part, most of them were pretty positive as well," Gottmik told The Advocate.

However, even those assurances did not speak to the performer's groundbreaking status as a competitor. "I was really nervous to go in because mine is a different perspective," Gottmik said. "And I just wanted to make sure I was saying the right thing and doing the right thing for the show's level and for just me trying to be a good advocate and tell my story."

Ultimately, Gottmik's reservations melted away after the competition began. "But when I got in there and started having fun, I just realized that I'm there for a reason and me being my most authentic self is the reason that people are connecting with me. And so I just started telling my story from the most authentic truth place, as if I was talking to my friends at home. And it just worked and it was just so much fun and amazing to watch back."

Gottmik added that, whether it's Drag Race, Hollywood, or government officials, she hopes her visibility can change hearts and minds toward supporting and giving visibility to trans people. "Support trans voices and every letter of that fuckin' alphabet out there," Gottmik said. "Just support and push it forward. Because, just my story being my story on the show, just opened my eyes up to how many stories were missing out on by Hollywood and these people not giving more trans people voices. We've got to be loud!"