Inti is the stage name of José Otero Aguilera (born 20 November 2000), a Bolivian-born Spanish

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

, activist, and multidisciplinary artist best known for competing on the first season of ''

Drag Race España ''Drag Race España'' (sometimes called ''Drag Race Spain'') is a Spanish reality competition streaming television series, produced by Atresmedia Televisión in collaboration with Buendía Estudios and executive produced by World of Wonder. It i ...

''.

Early life

José Otero Aguilera was born on November 20, 2000, in

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

, the capital of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. With a family with roots in the artistic world, they immigrated to Spain with their mother when they were three years old, and was raised in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Their mother works as a

nail art Nail art is a creative way to paint, decorate, enhance, and embellish nails. It is a type of artwork that can be done on fingernails and toenails, usually after manicures or pedicures. Manicures and pedicures are beauty treatments that trim, s ...

ist, and their brother, René, is a dancer. Additionally, their grandmother was a dancer and

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...

, while their grandfather was a musician. At the age of fourteen, they began a career in modeling, as well as beginning to participate in the Spanish

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

scene. Also as a teenager, they were given a makeup kit for the first time as an attempt at relief from their chronic

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, which rendered them near-bedridden from

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...

Career

They discovered an interest in drag and club culture after watching a video by Charles Jeffrey about the

club kid The Club Kids were a group of young New York City dance club personalities popularized by Michael Alig, James St. James, Julie Jewels, Astro Erle, Michael Tronn, DJ Keoki, and Ernie Glam in the late 1980s, and throughout the 1990s would grow to in ...

scene in New York City and began sneaking into local clubs in Madrid. There, they discovered performers such as

La Prohibida La Prohibida (in Spanish, ''The Forbidden Woman''), previously "'La Perdida"' (''The Lost Woman'') is the stage name of Amapola López (born Luis Herrero Cortés, 1971), a Spanish pop and electronic music singer. Life and career 1971-1996: Ear ...

, , and eventual ''Drag Race España'' host

Supremme de Luxe Daniel Blesa (born January 6, 1979), better known by the stage name Supremme de Luxe, is a Spanish actor, singer, cabaret artist, drag queen and television personality based in Madrid. De Luxe was known across Spain for her theatrical, musical a ...

, as well as castmate

Pupi Poisson Pupi Poisson is the stage name of Alberto Zimmer (born April 2, 1982), a Spanish drag performer most known for competing on the reality television series ''Drag Race España''. They began as a drag performer in 2006. Career Zimmer began perform ...

. Their drag persona was conceived in 2018 after performing in a Putochinomaricón show. They named themselves "Inti" as a reference to the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

sun god of the same name, which served as an homage to their culture and ancestry. The word also means "sun" in the

Quechua language Quechua (, ; ), usually called ("people's language") in Quechuan languages, is an Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous language family spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Peruvian Andes. Derived from a common anc ...

. They additionally chose the name because they wanted something short and memorable, similar to one of their favorite music albums,

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

's ''

ANTI Anti may refer to: *Anti-, a prefix meaning "against" *Änti, or Antaeus, a half-giant in Greek and Berber mythology *A false reading of ''Nemty'', the name of the ferryman who carried Isis to Set's island in Egyptian mythology * Áńt’į, or ...

'', and felt that the name "arose" in them, as they had not been able to visit Bolivia since they had immigrated to Spain due to

papers Paper is a thin, flat material produced by the compression of fibres. Paper(s) or The Paper may also refer to: Publishing and academia * Newspaper, a periodical publication * ''Paper'' (magazine), an American monthly fashion and culture magazin ...

and financial constraints. In 2021, they participated in the first season of ''

'', the Spanish version of the American drag competition ''

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 ...

''. Born in the year 2000, they became the first person born in the 21st century to participate in the franchise, as well as the first Bolivian contestant. In the third episode of the program, during the runway portion, they presented a look inspired by the Bolivian

diablada The Diablada, also known as the Danza de los Diablos ( en, Dance of the Devils), is an Andean folk dance performed in the Altiplano region of South America, characterized by performers wearing masks and costumes representing the devil and other c ...

, but after receiving negative criticism from the jury, and being among the possible eliminated, they decided to remove themselves from the competition. They later appeared as a part of the '' Gran Hotel de las Reinas'' tour, the official national tour of ''Drag Race España'', alongside their fellow castmates and host

. In 2022, they made an appearance on the TVE program , along with

Daniela Santiago Daniela Santiago Villena ( Málaga, April 1, 1982) is a Spanish model and actress, known for playing Cristina "La Veneno" in the biopic series '' Veneno'' (2020), for which she was awarded an Ondas Award. Biography Daniela Santiago Villena w ...

and other participants of ''Drag Race España'', such as

Carmen Farala Carmen Farala is the stage name of Daniel Mora Rojas, a Spanish drag performer best known for winning the first season of ''Drag Race España''. Early life Mora was born in Seville, Spain. Career Carmen Farala competed on the first season of ...

Hugáceo Crujiente Hugo Díaz (born 2 December 1995), better known by their stage name Hugáceo Crujiente, is a Spanish drag performer, designer, podcaster and multidisciplinary artist, who rose to fame for competing on the first season of ''Drag Race España''. ...

, and

Killer Queen "Killer Queen" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by lead singer Freddie Mercury and recorded for their third album ''Sheer Heart Attack'' in 1974. It reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and became their first US ...

Personal life

They are of

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

heritage and identify as

nonbinary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

. While competing on ''Drag Race España'', they lived between Madrid and

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium. Since then, they have relocated to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain, and then to London, United Kingdom. They cite their artistic inspirations to be

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

, Twiggy Pucci Garçon,

Leiomy Maldonado Leiomy Maldonado (born April 28, 1987), known as the "Wonder Woman of Vogue", is a transgender Afro-Puerto Rican dancer, instructor, model, activist, and ballroom dancer. She is the founder of the House of Amazon and best known for her voguing. M ...

Kevin Aviance Kevin Aviance (born Eric Snead on June 22, 1968) is an American drag queen, club/dance musician, fashion designer and nightclub personality. He is a personality in New York City's gay scene and has performed throughout North America, Europe and ...

Divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", wh ...

Lorna Lorna is a feminine given name. The name is said to have been first coined by R. D. Blackmore for the heroine of his novel ''Lorna Doone'', which appeared in 1869. Blackmore appears to have derived this name from the Scottish placename ''Lorn''/' ...

, Chiky Bom Bom "La Pantera", and

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

. They refer to their fans as "soles".

Filmography

Television * ''

'' (2021) * ' (2022)

Discography

Singles * ''"Q'IWA"'' (2022)

References

{{Drag Race España 2000 births Living people Drag Race España contestants Non-binary drag performers Spanish drag queens Bolivian non-binary people Spanish non-binary people