Allysin Chaynes

When we asked Allysin Chaynes how she'd like to be described in this article, this was her response: "Allysin promises to be a benevolent and fair overlord once the uprising comes and the world is hers."

If only we could someday be so lucky. A world run by Chaynes would likely resemble a supersized version of the West End Toronto drag community she has become such a staple of. Alongside her drag family House of Filth — an alternative performing arts collective also featuring Judy Virago, Igby Lizzard, Nancy Bocock, Champagna and Dottie Dangerfield — there would most certainly be a new world order of fabulosity. "Drag taught me a huge amount about body confidence and things like that," Chaynes says. "When you are able to control exactly the way you want your body to look and be perceived by a bunch of people — that's insanely powerful."

Chaynes, who grew up just outside of Toronto, says that for someone who spent their childhood being made fun of for their weight, the idea of taking their chest, taping it together and making it bigger is a pretty substantial act of empowerment. "It's all kind of a big fuck you to anyone who thinks that there's any sort of wrong body." Imagine that as an ideology behind a world uprising?

Gay Jesus

Heath V. Salazar was raised Roman Catholic, where they were taught that was Jesus represented love and doing good. "Then all of a sudden, as a queer person, you have it flipped on you that it's shameful or that they'd be ashamed of you," Salazar says. Gay Jesus — Salazar's drag king persona and the subject of the latest episode of CBC Arts' docu-series Canada's a Drag — is very much "a process of reclaiming what that means."

Sofonda Cox

Toronto's famed Church and Wellesley village wouldn't be the same without Sofonda Cox, the queen at the heart of the season finale of Canada's a Drag. On pretty much any night, you can find her on a stage giving — among other things — the city's best Beyoncé realness.

The man behind her, Jonathan Cruz, says being Sofonda has given him so much happiness and purpose in life. "I can sincerely say I am passionate about my career as a queen," Cruz says. "This is why I am driven every time I have a show. It's always an adventure. I found what I love doing." Cruz — who grew up in the Philippines and moved to Toronto when he was 12 years old — sees Sofonda as a chameleon. "I transform myself each time," he says, whether that means tying Sofonda to two life-sized puppets to become Destiny's Child or giving her own version of Beyoncé's Lemonade, both of which became viral sensations. "Being onstage for me just gives me life. You feel like you're a star. It's nice when the spotlight hits you and everyone's watching you. The adrenaline kicks in. It's a wonderful, nerve-wracking experience."

Sofonda Cox has also been around a long time before RuPaul's Drag Race, and has noticed a serious uptick in competition. "In drag, it becomes cliquey. It is a business; it is my way of life. There's hundreds of queens now and there's only certain demand. There's only certain bars. How are you all going to be employed? It's not just for fun — it's how I make my sole income." Cruz says that, as in anything you do, there's jealousy. "Which is a really bad thing in the community," he says. "But you learn from it. You learn not pay attention to it. Instead of being catty to other queens, challenge your work and make it good. Show it onstage. You feel bad inside, you feel awful...but you know what? It actually gives me a boost of energy to do better. That's what I do. I channel that negative energy and make it positive."

Couture Sisters

When Randy Granados was a little boy, he really, really wanted an Ashley Tisdale High School Musical Barbie. "We weren't allowed to have that kind of stuff in our house," recalls his older brother, Steven Granados-Portelance, who at the time had already started coming to terms being gay. "So for Christmas I bought it for him." Randy "completely lost his mind," and from that moment Steven suspected what their future as brothers had in store. "I knew it would be my job to take care of him and lead him into the gay community the proper way because I knew the hardships that come with it," Steven says. What he didn't know yet, though, was that the future also included the brothers joining forces to become Icesis and Savannah Couture — two of the fiercest drag queens Canada's capital city has ever seen.

Yovska

There is no one else quite like alternative drag performer Yovska. Born in Mexico, he explores themes of horror, fantasy and the paranormal through extraordinary — and extraordinarily designed — drag. And he expresses it all as a metaphor for his experience as a queer first-generation immigrant. A recent graduate of OCAD University, Yovska first introduced his drag persona to the world by attending balls in Toronto's Kiki ballroom scene (where he holds an undefeated record in the category of "bizarre"). "I go outside a traditional realm of drag," Yovska says. "I guess if it's female impersonation or male impersonation, I kind of like to do like, monster impersonation or goblin impersonation...I like to take many different forms. I'm a bit of a shape-shifter. Sometimes I'll be like a humanoid shark; other times, I'll feel more like a Bigfoot kind of creature."

Fay and Fluffy

For the past four years, Toronto drag queens Fay Slift (a.k.a. John Paul Kane) and Fluffy Soufflé (a.k.a. Kaleb Robertson) have been doing something the world definitely needs more than ever: spreading joy.

Their beloved "Fay & Fluffy's Storytime" events have the duo reading books and singing songs in front of audiences made up mostly of kids, with a particular focus on providing support for families with LGBTQ parent(s) and gender variant children.