Borja Casillas Toledo, known professionally as Drag Sethlas, is a Spanish drag performer from Las Palmas,

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, Spain, known for competing on season 2'' of Drag Race España'' (2022) and winning season 1 of ''

Drag Race España All Stars Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street ad ...

'' (2024), as well as winning the Drag Queen Gala at the

Carnival of Las Palmas The Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of the most famous carnivals of Spain. The event is celebrated every year in the month of February in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Events The events include the Gala of the Queen and the Gala of t ...

, both in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

Early life and education

Borja Casillas Toledo attended the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where he received a degree in Early Childhood Education. He has been a dancer since a very young age.

Career

In 2017, Sethlas won the nineteenth Drag Queen Gala of the Carnival of Las Palmas de Canaria, with the concept ''¡Mi cielo! Yo no hago milagros. Que sea lo que Dios quiera.'' (Darlings! I don't make miracles. Whatever God wills, will be), designed by Nelson Rodríguez. In 2020, he returned to win the twenty-third edition of said gala. In 2022, he participated in the second iteration of ''Drag Race España'' , where he ultimately placed 6th. In 2017, Sethlas was sued by the Association of Christian Attorneys (ACA) for using religious symbols in his performance at the Carnival of Las Palmas Drag Queen Gala. Furthermore, the video of Sethlas' performance was removed from the

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

web page because it "might harm people's sensibilities." The president of the Island Council of Tenerife, Carlos Alonso, branded the performance as "offensive," adding that "in the Drag Queen Gala of the Carnival of Las Palmas, in that headlining moment, there was no Carnival nor freedom, only offense."

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Francisco Cases Andreu, bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Canarias The Roman Catholic Diocese of Canarias or Diocese Canariense-Rubicense ( la, Canarien(sis)) is a diocese located in the Canary Islands in the Ecclesiastical province of Seville in Spain. The dioceses includes the islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerte ...

( Las Palmas Province), compared the drag queen's performance with the Spainair Flight 5022 accident, affirming that the former was making him "live the saddest day" of his stay in the Canary Islands. As a result of these declarations, the bishop had to ask forgiveness from the victims' families. The president of the

Islamic Federation of the Canary Islands The Islamic Federation of the Canary Islands (in Spanish: ''Federación Islámica de Canarias'') is a Muslim religious organization that brings together associations and Islamic religious communities around the Canary Islands. Its headquarters is ...

, Tijani El Bouji, also spoke out against the performance, which he called "blasphemous." Borja Casillas faced two lawsuits accusing him of wounding religious sensibilities, one of which was dismissed by grand jury number 8 of Las Palmas, given that "a party like the Carnival allows us to rule out a deliberate intent to offend". Afterwards, the ACA requested an appeal of the dismissal, which was admitted for processing. Finally, the case was definitively archived upon finding that there was no offense to religious sentiments because the party is traditionally about being transgressive. The ACA was forced to pay the costs of the trial.

Filmography

References

External links

Drag Setlas' 2020 performance at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Drag Queen Gala

Dismissal of the complaint against Drag Sethlas (Spanish)
{{Drag Race España Living people Drag Race España contestants Spanish drag queens University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria alumni People from Las Palmas, Chaco Year of birth missing (living people) Drag Race España All Stars winners