Ana Masreya - Drag 2 Favorite 

‘I’m an Egyptian, Muslim drag queen who aims to raise issues about Middle Eastern / LBGTQ issues within the Arab world and Muslim community. For too long it was drilled in my head that I was wrong, that I was going to Hell, and that’s simply not fair. No one speaks about the harsh mistreatment we go through as gay people in the Arab world. The internal torture and shame is more than enough.

So many gay Arabs are scared and alone, because they have no one to talk to. Through Ana Masreya, I wanna bring our community together. I want people to know that gay Arabs EXIST. We are here, we are valid, and we aren’t going anywhere. I’m starting a revolution, and it’s Brown.’

- Ana Masreya

After she moved to the United States for college, Ana discovered “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and realized she had found her calling. But it would take time to get onstage and shed the paranoia and shame she had carried.

When she finally made her drag debut last summer, she felt like an outsider among the other queens working in New York City. Her performances are “inspired by a completely different set of cultural influences,” she said. She envisioned a North African and Middle Eastern cabaret that would celebrate diversity and fuse her love of drag with her love of Egyptian culture. It would also be a place where people like her could feel safe in their own skin.