Kimmy Couture

Kimmy Couture is the stage name of Louent Essar Lampong (born September 30, 1996), a Filipino-Canadian drag queen known for being the first transgender contestant on Canada's Drag Race when she competed on season 3 of the series.

Career
Kimmy was first introduced to drag by friends in 2011 who got her a gig, following which club managers "loved all her performances" and continued to book her. During this time she also performed under the name Kimmy Dymond. In 2018 she was crowned Ms Capital Pride, becoming the first transgender woman to win the title. She also appeared on CTV News in 2019, as well as being part of the first Winter Pride in February 2019 as part of Winterlude.

In 2021 she was prominently featured in the documentary (613) Queens by Rowan O'Brien, along with drag daughter Jasmine Dymond, which showcased the local Ottawa drag scene.

In 2022 she was announced as one of the twelve queens competing on the third season of Canada's Drag Race. In episode 2 she won the maxi challenge for her performance in the Who-Knows Awards, a parody of the Juno Awards. In the Snatch Game she portrays American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande, a performance which lands her in the bottom. She wins the lipsync against Lady Boom Boom to "Run Away with Me" by Carly Rae Jepsen. She falls into the bottom again in episode 8, beating Vivian Vanderpuss in a lipsync to Rêve's "CTRL + ALT + DEL". She makes it to the finale but is eliminated by the judges before the final lipsync, placing in joint 3rd with Miss Fiercalicious.

She was chosen as the headliner for the 2022 Capital Pride, and appeared in Winter Pride 2023 co-headlining the drag show with Jada Shada Hudson, Miss Fiercalicious, and local Ottawa drag performers. She also attended the 2023 edition of RuPaul's DragCon UK.

In June 2023 she received a Plaque of Awards from the Southern Leyte Pride Federation and the Province of Southern Leyte as part of the province's 63rd anniversary. The award was in recognition of “Outstanding Contributions and Achievements in the Field of Arts and Entertainment” and for “Exemplary Leadership, Dedication, and Excellence in Advocating and Empowering the LGBT Community”.

Personal life
Couture was originally born in Southern Leyte, Philippines and immigrated to Canada around 2011. She is a transgender woman and uses both she/her and they/them pronouns in and out of drag. She currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

Her drag mother is Icesis Couture, winner of season 2 of Canada's Drag Race.

Following her time on Drag Race she discussed how masculinity-centered challenges during the season triggered feelings of gender dysphoria. She also discussed how members of marginalized communities, such as being trans and a person of colour, can come with the expectation to educate people outside of those communities on issues, stating that it felt like her life was just about "answering the same questions" over and over again.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Podcasts

Discography

Singles

References

Living people
21st-century Canadian LGBT people
21st-century Filipino LGBT people
Canadian people of Filipino descent
Filipino drag queens
Canadian drag queens
Canada's Drag Race contestants
People from Southern Leyte
People from Ottawa
Transgender drag performers
Filipino emigrants to Canada
1996 births