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Jinkx Monsoon updates fans on her chosen name & now we're crying
The Doctor Who actress and two-time Drag Race winner shared a major update regarding her gender journey.
In this house, Monsoon season never ends.
Jinkx Monsoon, who starts her run as Audrey on Little Shop of Horrors on April 2 while gearing up to star in the new season of Doctor Who premiering May 10, has just shared a huge update in her gender journey — including her chosen name out of drag.
“Well, I released a perfume recently. Weird time to be releasing a perfume. [laughs] But I’m really, really happy with it and I hope it brings joy into people’s lives,” Jinkx told Cosmopolitan. “It’s called Hera, which is also the name I’ve chosen for myself in my personal identity.”
Jinkx shared this new interview and wrote in an X post: “Hera Hoffer is my chosen name. But make no mistake, I’ll always be billed as Jinkx Monsoon.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Jinkx also opened up about how she’s been navigating her trans experience out of drag. “I’m still kind of figuring it out. Because until very recently, my body has always been as delivered,” she explained. “When I’m onstage, I’m creating a character. And my mission statement as an artist is to teach everyone who loves theater that what’s between an actor’s legs shouldn’t matter in regard to how well they can play a role.”
Jinkx added that she’s identified as nonbinary for 10 years and has been identifying as trans feminine nonbinary for the last five years. “And within that self-identity, I put so many rules on myself,” she told the publication. “Sometime at the end of last year, I decided I was done. I lifted all those rules and took a step forward. I booked my FFS [facial feminization surgery], I reached out about HRT [hormone replacement therapy], and every day, I just feel like I’m taking strides toward the person I always saw myself becoming. I’ve been explaining to my friends that I think I made a decision a long time ago that I was going to transition at some point in my life. I just didn’t know when.”
Hera Hoffer is a FIERCE name, and we couldn’t be happier for this incredible artist — who we’ve loved for so many years — taking such a huge step in her personal life. Jinkx’s long journey with her identity, which many of us first learned about in her 2015 documentary Drag Becomes Him, seems to be coming full circle now… and it’s truly beautiful to see it!
You can purchase or learn more information about Jinkx Monsoon’s Hera Eau de Parfum, visit osmperfume.com. You can also get tickets for Jinkx’s Carnegie Hall debut concert takin place on Valentine’s Day 2025 on carnegiehall.org.
Bernardo Sim is a writer, editor, and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is a writer, editor, and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
