Make Mine an Ongina With Milk, Please!

With the film Milk fresh from a two-Oscar win, the Harvey Milk School in New York City is enjoying a resurgence of sorts in the media. Another legacy to the slain gay activist's honor is the high school established in New York 25 years ago by the Hetrick-Martin Institute to serve gay, lesbian and transgendered students. The school is unique in the city (if not in the world) as 25 percent of its students are transgendered — people who are born of one gender but identify with the other.

Enter 27-year-old drag queen Ryan Ong Palao, who's currently a contestant on RuPaul Drag Race on the LOGO network, and better known to Drag Race viewers as "Ongina." I caught up on episodes of the series this weekend and watched as Ongina won the MAC Viva Glam challenge, where the makeup company asked the queens to deliver a 30-second spot for the MAC line.

When Ong won the challenge, she collapsed into sobs on the runway and shared with the panel, fellow contestants and the world that she has been living with HIV for two years but has been too afraid to tell anyone. The confession was moving for anyone who witnessed it. RuPaul herself was crying profusely as the competition came to a sudden stop. I shed a few tears myself as Ongina pulled herself and her fabulous outfit back together and walked eloquently to the back of the stage.

Meanwhile, the Harvey Milk School has faced challenges of its own. With a drop in government and private funds, Hetrick-Martin has released 20 percent of its workforce and eliminated services it once provided to the Milk School. Increased demand for services to gay youth in New York has strained funds even more.

Last week, new MAC spokes-queen Ongina walked into the Harvey Milk School with a check for $25,000, compliments of the make-up company (which generously provides funding to HIV/AIDS organizations). The staff and students met Ongina and accepted the much-needed donation while asking her questions about her drag queen experiences, and sought her makeup and costuming tips.

Ongina could relate to the kids she faced. Ong himself faced harassment while attending high school in Washington and told the New York Times that he would have appreciated a "school that provided me as much of an education as a comfort zone."

It may have taken her 10 years, but it looks like Ongina found that school and comfort zone — with plenty of people to inspire along the way. Now, back to the drag races.

Photo of Harvey Milk School Principal Alan Nolan, Ongina, Thomas Krever and Executive Director, MAC AIDS Fund Nancy Mahon by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage for MAC Cosmetics.