# Ongina

Ongina is the stage name of Ryan Ong Palao (born January 6, 1982), a Filipino-American drag performer and HIV activist who came to international attention on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Since appearing on the show, Ongina has been featured in a number of web series produced by World of Wonder, including Wait, What?, Ring My Bell, and Fashion Photo RuView. Ongina was one of the first reality TV stars to come out as HIV-positive.

## Early life

Palao was born in the Philippines in 1982. He and his family relocated to Seattle, Washington, in 1994. His original drag name, before Ongina, was Peck-Peck Galore. He started performing in drag in 2003 at an Asian restaurant called Lucky Cheng's, where he worked alongside Laverne Cox.

## Drag Race and career

Ongina was selected as one of nine contestants for the inaugural season of RuPaul's Drag Race and was officially announced on February 2, 2009. She revealed her HIV status in the fourth episode, where she won her second challenge. She was eliminated in the next episode after losing a lip sync to "Stronger", by Britney Spears, against eventual winner BeBe Zahara Benet, placing her in fifth.
Outside of season 1, she made a cameo appearance on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. She also made five appearances in the first and second seasons of RuPaul's Drag U. In November 2017, Ongina was a featured performer in Queens United, a benefit show created by Jaremi Carey in an effort to raise money to people affected by Hurricane Maria.
Ongina appeared as a guest for the first challenge in the premiere of season 11 of Drag Race.
Ongina was in the 2009 music video for "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas. An animated version of her appeared in the RuPaul's Drag Race: Dragopolis 2.0 mobile app. She appeared in three episodes of the WOW Presents web series Fashion Photo RuView with Mayhem Miller, filling in for Raja and Raven in September and October 2018. She was a backup dancer for Nico Tortorella on an episode of Lip Sync Battle in 2019.
In June 2019, Ongina performed at Motor City Pride. Later that year, she performed at Virginia Pridefest, headlined by Betty Who. Later that year, she starred in Tammie Brown Walking Ongina in Nature!, a "two-woman show", alongside fellow Drag Race alum Tammie Brown, in reference to Tammie's quote: “I don’t see you walking children in nature” from the Drag Race Season 1 reunion.
On May 8, 2020, Ongina was announced as one of the ten queens competing on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. She was the second queen eliminated from the show, ultimately placing 9th.
In November 2020, Ongina hosted "Constellations of Change", a live-streamed cabaret show produced by ViiV Healthcare as a part of its annual Community Summit.
In 2020, she was featured in Magnus Hastings' Rainbow Revolution photography book. She hosted the 2021 Los Angeles AIDS Walk, and was featured in an accompanied televised special, Localish LA AIDS Walk Special. In July 2022, Ongina headlined the 10th year of Hagerstown Hopes and Hagerstown Pride festival.
Ongina frequently streams on Twitch.

## Activism

Since coming out as HIV-positive, Ongina has become an HIV activist. He was the host for the online web show HIV and Me, a talk show featuring interviews with different individuals on how they live with HIV/AIDS. Ongina also was a spokesperson for OraQuick, one of the first at-home HIV testing kits, in 2013. He won the NewNowNext Award for Most Addictive Reality Star in 2009.
RuPaul's 2009 song "LadyBoy" was inspired by Ongina.
In an interview with amFAR, Ongina said he used his drag persona to advocate for HIV, trans equality, and basic human rights awareness.

## Personal life

Palao is openly gay. He was diagnosed as HIV-positive on April 13, 2006. He married his husband, Ryan, in 2010. He currently lives in Los Angeles. Palao is involved in an amFAR campaign called Epic Voices, whose mission is to find a cure for AIDS by 2030 and to reengage the conversation about the virus.
In July 2024, Palao announced that she would be taking a break from drag.

## Discography

As Featured Artist
| Title | Year | Album |
| "I'm in Love" (with the Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, Season 5) | 2020 | Non-album single |

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 1) | Herself | Contestant (5th place) |
| 2010–11 | RuPaul's Drag U | Herself | Guest |
| 2010 | One Night Stand Up | Herself | Episode: "Dragtastic" |
| 2012 | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 4) | Zombie | Episode: "RuPocalypse Now!" |
| 2012 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 1) | Herself | Guest - Episode 6 |
| 2018 | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 10) | Herself | Guest - Episode 1 |
| 2019 | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 11) | Herself | Guest - Episode 1 |
| 2019 | Lip Sync Battle | Backup dancer | Guest appearance |
| 2020 | AJ and the Queen | Ongina | Guest appearance |
| 2020 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 5) | Herself | Contestant (9th Place) |
| 2020 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked (season 5) | Herself | Contestant (9th Place) |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist | Role |
| 2009 | "I Gotta Feeling" | The Black Eyed Peas | Party-goer |
| 2015 | ”Not a Pearl” | Willam Belli | Herself |

### Web series

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | HIV and Me | Herself | Host |
| 2014 | Ring My Bell | Herself | Guest |
| 2014 | Wow Shopping Network | Herself | Guest; one episode |
| 2016 | Bestie$ For Ca$h | Herself | Guest, with Thed Jewel |
| 2017 | The Pit Stop | Herself | Special Guest |
| 2017 | Epic Voices | Herself | amFAR mini-series |
| 2017 | Hey Qween! | Herself | Guest |
| 2018 | Drag Queens React | Herself | Guest, Episode: "Drag Queens React to Mamma Mia!" |
| 2018 | Fashion Photo Ruview | Herself | Special Guest |
| 2018 | Cosmo Queens | Herself | Guest |
| 2018 | Wait, What? | Herself | Guest, Hosted by Kimora Blac |
| 2019 | Tails of the City: Pets 4 Pets | Herself | Quest, Episode 2 |
| 2019 | Follow Me | Herself | Episode: "Mariah Balenciaga" |
| 2020 | The Vivienne Takes On Hollywood | Herself | Guest appearance |
| 2020 | The X Change Rate | Herself | Guest |
| 2020 | Whatcha Packin' | Herself | Guest |
| 2020 | Binge | Herself | Podcast by Entertainment Weekly |
| 2022 | Poz Vibe | Herself | Podcast |
| 2022 | Tongue Thai'd | Herself | Guest |
| 2023 | Kerri Kares | Herself | Special guest; Episode: "Being a Driven Diva" |
| 2023 | Very Delta | Herself | Guest; Episode 72: "Do You Hieeee! Like Me?" |