9 January 11-17, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | Culture | Cafe | MusiC | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | Royal Court Meet the Miami queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16. BY JESSE FRAGA T wo local drag legends, Morphine Love Dion and Mhi’ya Iman LeP- aige, are facing off on season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. The two will vying to win $200,000, a year’s supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics, and the title of America’s next drag superstar, putting Miami’s unique drag scene on a na- tional stage. Love Dion, known for her snatched mug and Kali Uchis-esque aesthetic, and LePaige, a self-taught flipping stunt queen, have crossed paths only a few times prior to the show, despite living in the same area — Love Dion from Hialeah and LePaige from Liberty City. “I walked in [the Werk Room] and acted like I didn’t know who [LePaige] was,” Love Dion admits, giggling. “She’s actually such a staple here in Miami. I never wanted to do better than her.” Now, the two say they’re “like best friends.” Prior to the show, LePaige was a resident cast member at the Palace Bar on Miami Beach, where she went viral on social media for flipping off a car, landing 15 consecutive backflips, and flipping onto a pole while twerking midair. To top it off, she’s never in- jured herself. “Growing up as a child, me and my cous- ins, we’d do boy things,” LePaige says. “We taught each other how to backflip, and it was always a competition to see who could do the most. Of course, I was winning.” By 19, she came out to her father as a gay man and noticed hypermasculinity and ho- mophobia were rampant in her biological family. “My father’s side of the family is Hai- tian, and when I came out of the closet, he cut off communication,” LePaige recalls. “We stopped talking out of nowhere. I didn’t have communication with anyone on that side of the family, so I grew up without them.” The 34-year-old eventually joined the prosperous Iman dynasty, thanks to her first drag mother, the late Jada Iman, who in- spired her to start drag. The renowned family line also possesses Tamisha Iman, a drag pag- eant sensation and a contestant on season 13 of Drag Race. Through a blend of hip-hop, street dancing, gymnastics, and high- glamour fashion, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Flips” was born. LePaige’s drag persona helped her embrace one of her biggest battles, her own shyness, which is mistaken for spite, she explains. “I get this a lot, that people think I’m a mean girl,” LePaige tells New Times. “Once people get to know me, they’ll see I’m really sweet and shy. But once I got a few cock- tails in me, I’m kooky and crazy.” Love Dion, who goes by Michelle out of drag, also entered the Werk Room, feeling a bit out of her comfort zone. Performing in front of cameras, with a full production team and far away from her iconic Dion dynasty, had her on edge. “I do suffer from anxiety un- diagnosed, and she’s been okay, but she wanted to crawl up again on the way from the airport to the hotel,” Love Dion tells New Times. “Right before I walked into the Werk Room, I had a mini panic attack. When I was inside, it went away completely.” As other queens trickled into the Werk Room, she felt an aura that was more friendly than competitive — both a pro and con throughout the season, she says. “It’s weird because I love to meet new people and vibe with everyone, so sometimes I forgot it was a competition,” the 25-year-old says. “Like, wait a minute, I’m supposed to take you hoes out. Why do I like you?” In her baby drag days, she regularly per- formed at Azucar Nightclub, located off Coral Way; Georgie’s Alibi Monkey Bar in Fort Lau- derdale; and various other South Florida gigs. Love Dion’s career took off when she became a resident queen at R House Wynwood, work- ing alongside her drag mother, Athena Dion. The duo met at a local gig called Celebrity Deathmatch, hosted by Miss Toto Clermont Dion. “Athena was giving very regal in a chair with her champagne glass, probably her fifth one,” Love Dion says. “She said, ‘Come here, sweetie.’ She pinned my wig so fiercely I was sort of bleeding, but my wig never fell off.” Like LePaige, it took support from Love Dion’s chosen family to succeed in the largest drag competition in the world. Her biological parents are still unaware that she’s competing on Drag Race. “My parents are very religious. My dad is actually on his way to becoming a pastor,” Love Dion explains. “I kind of live the Hannah Montana lifestyle, but it’s the people in my own community who have nurtured me through all of this.” RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV and Paramount+. [email protected] ▼ Culture Mhi’ya Iman LePaige amd Morphine Love Dion MTV photos “IT’S THE PEOPLE IN MY OWN COMMUNITY WHO HAVE NURTURED ME THROUGH ALL OF THIS.”
