Lactatia, 9-Year-Old Drag Queen, Inspires Us to Live Colorfully

Nemis Quinn Mélançon Golden may only be nine years old, but he’s as impressive and magical as his name suggests: After school, if he’s not crushing it in Grand Theft Auto V, PlayStation controller in hand, he’s getting dolled up and dancing to his favorite dubstep violinist (that would be Lindsey Stirling). It all depends on his mood.

When he was seven, this pint-size boy — who had a habit of wearing his sister’s tutus and princess costumes when he was two — officially transformed into a queen called Lactatia. Now he’s a miniature fixture on the Montreal drag scene. “I was always a drag queen, but I never knew it until my sister showed me RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Nemis explains. Drag, the subversive art of deconstructing gender through over-the-top aesthetics and performances, has become Nemis’s main source of empowerment and pride. “I have half the confidence he does, and I’m 37!” laughs Jessica Mélançon, Nemis’s mom and makeup artist, who helps curate Lactatia’s lewks.

Prior to Lactatia’s first drag ball — where he took home a trophy — Nemis enrolled in voguing classes to refine what he calls his “weird dance moves.” Voguing, a stylized form of movement that evolved from the LGBTQ ballroom scene, is an exercise in control that Nemis teaches his friends at recess (“If it doesn’t look controlled, you’re chopped!”). Her skills have earned Lactatia a slot at a major vogue house, the New York–based House of Mizrahi, through which she will hone her craft with other queens and participate in future competitions — yet another indication of how Lactatia has been embraced by the community. As for his future plans, Nemis is dreaming up Lactatia’s look for a Lady Gaga concert he’s set to attend. “My favorite song is ‘Born This Way.’ It has an amazing message that I try to apply to myself,” he says. “People are born differently. But we’re all people, and we all have the same rights.” Indeed — all hail Queen Lactatia.

Manicure: Kayo Higuchi using Chanel Le Vernis