Gia Gunn is the stage name of American drag performer Gia Keitaro Ichikawa (born May 10, 1990). She is known for competing on the sixth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'', the second season of ''

The Switch Drag Race ''The Switch Drag Race'' is a Chilean reality competition television series, presented by Mega as a Chilean version of the hit American show ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The purpose of the series is to find Chile’s top ''transformista'' (''transfo ...

'', and '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' season four.

Early life

Gunn began performing

Japanese traditional dance Japanese traditional dance describes a number of Japanese dance styles with a long history and prescribed method of performance. Some of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese dance may be among those transmitted through the tradition, or fol ...

and

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

onnagata (also ) are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. History The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as ("male kabuki") to distinguish it from earlier forms. In the early 17th century, shortly after the emergence of the g ...

roles when she was five years old. She graduated from Barrington High School in Barrington, Illinois. She won the drag pageants Miss Roscoe's 2013 and Miss Diosa 2013. Her drag mother is trans drag performer Aly Gunn. Their last name inspired by Tim Gunn; Gia's first name came from

Gia Carangi Gia Marie Carangi (January 29, 1960November 18, 1986) was an American model, considered by many to be the first supermodel. She was featured on the cover of many magazines, including multiple editions of '' Vogue'' and ''Cosmopolitan'', and appe ...

Career

''Drag Race'' and ''The Switch''

Gunn was announced as one of fourteen contestants for the sixth season of ''

'' on February 24, 2014. She covered RuPaul's song " Ladyboy" for RuPaul's album '' RuPaul Presents: The CoverGurlz'' to promote the season. On the show, she was known for her

voguing Vogue, or voguing, is a highly stylized, modern house dance originating in the late 1980s that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1960s. It gained mainstream exposure when it was featured in Madonna's song and video "Vogue" (1990) ...

, off-the-cuff catchphrases, reads and particular opinions, feminine style of drag, and friendship with fellow contestant Laganja Estranja. She underperformed as

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...

during the "

Snatch Game Snatch Game is a challenge on the ''Drag Race'' reality competition television franchise. Beginning with the second season of the original American series '' RuPaul's Drag Race'', the challenge has taken place on every season since. It has also ...

" challenge, and was eliminated after losing a bottom two

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

against Estranja to Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam's " Head to Toe," earning her tenth place. In 2017, Gunn was announced as a contestant on the second season of ''The Switch'', the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an version of ''Drag Race'', alongside ''Drag Race'' alumnus Kandy Ho. The series premiered March 25, 2018 with 15 contestants, including the winner of the first season. She earned ten challenge wins, making her the most-decorated contestant of the season, but lost to Miss Leona. Gunn was announced as one of ten contestants competing on '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars Season Four'' on November 9, 2018. Gia became the third ever transgender contestant to come out prior to appearing on the show, following Monica Beverly Hillz and

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantba ...

. However, Gia was the first trans contestant to compete post-transition during her second season. The show premiered on December 14, 2018, with Gunn eliminated in the third episode after once again underperforming in "Snatch Game" challenge with her Jenny Bui impression.

Manila Luzon Karl Philip Michael Westerberg, better known by the stage name Manila Luzon (born August 10, 1981), is an American drag queen, recording artist, comedian and reality television personality. Luzon came to international attention as a contestant on ...

eliminated her, causing Gunn to place 8th. She had a chance to return in the sixth episode, where the eliminated queens faced off with the queens still in game, but lost a lip sync to Naomi Smalls, eliminating her for good. After her elimination Gunn sparked controversy revealing that an altercation between her and RuPaul about transgender drag queens was edited out of show.

After ''Drag Race''

Gunn walked the

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

for MarcoMarco's fall 2017 fashion show with other ''Drag Race'' alumni. On March 31, 2018, Gunn released ''30 Days in Transition'', a

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

on her

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel documenting aspects of her transition as a transgender woman. Shortly thereafter, she was announced to star in the first episode of an internet

documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

by WOWPresents following her life as a trans person and drag queen; the series will be called ''Follow Me''. A teaser was released on June 25, 2018, and features

Isis King Isis King (born October 1, 1985) is an American model, actress, and fashion designer. Most widely known for her role on both the eleventh cycle and the seventeenth cycle of the reality television show ''America's Next Top Model'', she was the ...

. With WOW Presents, she played

Karrueche Tran Karrueche Tran ( ; born May 17, 1988) is an American actress and model. From 2013 to 2016, she starred as Vivian Johnson in the web series '' The Bay''. For producing the series, she won two Daytime Emmy Awards. Her return to ''The Bay'' for i ...

's character Virginia in a recap video of the first season of ''Claws''. Gunn also frequently appeared in other WOW Presents productions, including ''Wait, What?'', ''Besties for Cash'', and ''Fashion Photo Ruview''. She and Estranja appear both on WOW Presents and at other performances as the duo TeamTooMuch.

Music

Following her appearance on ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', Gunn released her first solo single "Bring out the Gunnz" on July 31, 2015. In 2016, Gunn was featured on the

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

's song "Stun" from her album ''Poundcake''. A music video was released on April 24, 2017. ''Drag Race'' contestants Mariah Paris Balenciaga, Courtney Act and Willam are featured in the video as well. On August 29, 2018, Gunn's second single "#LaChinaMasLatina" was released, featuring Alaska. She and Estranja appeared in the music video for Danielle Alexa's "Spin in Circles."

Personal life

Ichikawa started taking hormones in 2016, and she publicly came out as a

transgender woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

via Instagram in April 2017. She later had the first name on her birth certificate officially changed to Gia in August. She was one of many ''Drag Race'' alumni to criticize RuPaul's views on transgender and bio queens competing on the show in 2018. She started a

Gofundme GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...

page to cover $30,000 of her transition surgery. Gia sparked controversy in June 2020, claiming that the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

was a hoax, saying in an

Instagram Live Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can be ...

video, “I think the whole mask thing is f–king ridiculous... I honestly think this whole COVID-19 thing is a hoax.” She later tested positive for COVID-19 in July 2021, receiving further backlash from fellow season 6 contestant and winner,

Bianca Del Rio Roy R. Haylock (born June 27, 1975), better known by the stage name Bianca Del Rio, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, and costume designer. She is known for winning the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Since her time on ''Drag R ...

, as well as season 7 contestant,

Mrs. Kasha Davis Mrs. Kasha Davis is the stage name of Edward P. Popil, Jr., an American drag queen, actor and television personality from Scranton, Pennsylvania. She is best known for competing on the seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. After appearing o ...

. She is a member of the drag family The Haus of Edwards, with

Alyssa Edwards Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson (born January 16, 1980), best known by the stage name Alyssa Edwards, is an American drag performer, choreographer, and businessperson. Edwards was known for competing in drag pageantry (notably Miss Gay America 2010) b ...

Shangela Chantize Darius Jeremy Pierce, better known as Shangela Laquifa Wadley or mononymously as Shangela (born November 22, 1980), is an American drag queen, reality television personality and actor best known for competing on ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. S ...

, Plastique Tiara, Laganja Estranja and Vivienne Pinay.

Filmography

Television

Music videos

Web series

Discography

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Gia 20th-century births Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Asian-American drag queens LGBT people from Illinois American LGBT people of Asian descent People from Carpentersville, Illinois People from Chicago Gia Gunn Gia Gunn Transgender women Transgender drag performers Transgender rights activists American women singers American LGBT musicians American musicians of Japanese descent The Switch Drag Race