'Drag Race' Queen Willow Pill Comes Out as Trans

"RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 14 contestant Willow Pill came out as trans on Thursday. She's now one of five contestants this season to identify as trans, making Season 14 the one with the most trans cast members, Entertainment Weekly reported.

Willow, who suffers from cystinosis – a hereditary disease that affects the kidneys – took to Instagram with a post in which she addressed comments she had made on "Untucked" about her gender identity.

"It's taken me a long time to come to terms with my transness because so much space has been taken up by my illness," Willow posted. "My condition has caused me so much physical and emotional pain that my body became something I always wanted out of. Eventually, hating my body for failing me and hating myself for not being a girl was so constant and intertwined that it felt totally normal."

Willow went on to disclose that during the COVID-19 pandemic she had "unpacked a lot of medical PTSD and self-hatred."

"But only in the last year have I really started to realize that I'm not happy with my gender identity either," Willow's post continued.

That realization, she added, was largely due to her time on the show "and feeling euphoria being Willow for the first time since quarantine and being around a bunch of queer and trans friends on set."

Those friends, EW noted, are "fellow season 14 contestants Kerri Colby, Kornbread 'The Snack' Jeté, Bosco, and Jasmine Kennedie – all of whom came out as trans before, during, or after the show."

Kennedie, who also came out on social media following an emotional "Untucked" episode in which she tearfully declared, "I definitely do feel that I am trans," drew plaudits from the Human Rights Campaign for her coming out, which included the news that she had begun her transition.

"These moments don't just change opinions," the HRC tweeted in a post that included a video clip of Kennedie talking about her gender identity on the show, "they save lives."

"I'm still not sure where I fit on the spectrum," Willow said in her post, going on to say that "for now I just say trans femme, but I also don't have to know now."

EW noted that Willow "also opened up about having surgery in November to make their face 'a bit more feminine' as well as to counteract some effects of 'long-term medication' ahead of discussing a 'low dose of hormones with a doctor' on their journey."

Willow summed up with, "For now, I go by Willow in and out of drag with they/she pronouns...I'm finally starting to feel bits of happiness with my face and body, and that's a start!"