When Linda Montana arrived in Sydney’s western suburbs from the Philippines in the late eighties, her parents would often remind her to fly under the radar and blend in.
She was shortly enrolled into an all-boys school, but felt no matter how hard she tried, she stood out.
Ms Montana described her high school self as “effeminate”, and in a boy’s school that made her the target of bullies.
"At the end of my second year, the bullying just increased too much to the point where when I got physically bullied and I had to defend myself," she told SBS News.
"I was the one that was getting sent to the principal's school."
Ms Montana started transitioning in year 11, but she says she always knew she was different.
At Christmas, she would be gifted toy guns and toy cars.
"But I didn't want them. I wanted my sister's Barbie doll," she told SBS News.
"Even though society tells you it's wrong and Catholicism tells you there's only male and female, you just know."
Fitting in
The last time Ms Montana got sent to the principal’s office for defending herself against her bullies, she decided to quit school and run away from home.
With her sights set on a youth gender centre in Sydney’s northern beaches, Ms Montana spent that first night alone sleeping on a bench.
"I just kept thinking, I'm starting a new journey. This was the new me, with a bag full of my mum’s stolen clothes."
Ms Montana eventually graduated high school and applied for university to study arts. She had only completed a semester before dropping out to do what she loved: performing.
Linda says Oxford Street became her home as she spent years performing on the strip.
Through that 'sisterhood', she spent the following years in a touring cabaret show, performing in casinos and clubs around the country.
“I felt at home. I clicked my heels and followed the yellow brick road. So that's where the yellow brick road ended for me because I found my rainbow.”
A safe space on the stage
Ms Montana spent years in the spotlight with the long-running cabaret show, 'Les Girls', born in the heart of Kings Cross.
The group took the show to new audiences across Australia, many who had never seen a live drag performance before.
"I felt amazing," Ms Montana said.
"We're not just being visible. We're not just being heard, but we're being celebrated."
Now, she participates in local community pageants like Miss Pride Queen 2023 to encourage a new generation of trans people to be proud of their identity.
All contestants in the Miss Pride Queen 2023 beauty pageant are transwoman representing a different cultural background.
"I was really inspired to make sure that this minority in our minority group feel safe, loved and respected with the same equal rights," he told SBS News.
After years of organising and hosting beauty pageants, Mr Quinlon says he feels like he’s made his contribution to the movement.
"I'm very proud with a lot of hard work that I have been doing in the past few years and I can really see the fruits of my labour as well," he said.
