Carmen Monoxide Is the Fashion “Queerdo” Who Shaped Guatemala’s Drag Scene

 Five days a week you'll find drag queen and self-described “queerdo” Carmen Monoxide performing in packed venues in Mexico City. She'll often be wearing sexy pink bodysuits with cutouts, or more futuristic patent leather harnesses. “It’s Pride [Month] right now, so this is our busiest season,” Monoxide tells Vogue, adding that there’s a burgeoning drag scene forming in the city. “Here in Mexico City, drag queens have their own way that they see drag. There’s something about Latinos—they just have this fiery energy and stage presence.” Originally from Guatemala, the fashion-focused queen moved to Mexico in August last year, and she's since parlayed her love of the art form into a full-time career. While the 29-year-old has developed her own following and steady gigs in the applicable city, her career hasn't always been so seamless.

Born in Montpellier, France, but raised in Guatemala City, Monoxide first became interested in drag in high school. “I didn’t develop a character or anything, I was just mostly having fun with friends,” she says. In 2017, she moved to Napanee, Canada, with her then-boyfriend for around 10 months. That was where she truly fell in love with the art. “It was my first winter ever, so I was stuck at home and not really knowing what to do,” Monoxide says. As a fan of RuPaul's Drag Race, she started experimenting at home, then eventually performed her first show for the public in nearby Toronto. “It was a viewing party for RuPaul's Drag Race. A girl I met on Grindr asked me to do a little show,” Monoxide says. She performed a dance to Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional.” “I wore this Audrey Hepburn look. It didn’t make any sense, but I just wanted to get on stage and try to do it in front of people.”