Miss Toto is a triple threat: a drag queen, a marine animal conservationist, and a driving force for LGBTQ+ youth.
In her annual Drag N’ Tag event, Miss Toto teams up with scientists from the Field School Foundation to take boats out of Biscayne Bay, Florida and tag sharks for hands-on marine science research.
While attendees wait for the sharks to appear, Miss Toto treats them to a drag show on the water.
To top it all off, proceeds from the event go directly to Pridelines, a community center for LGBTQ+ youth in Florida.
“Thank you Field School for another successful year fundraising for Pridelines with my favorite event to ever exist,” Miss Toto wrote in an Instagram caption after one event. “It’s more important now, than ever before, to do this type of work and be vigilant and visible, especially in Florida.”
In an interview with Attitude, Miss Toto said that Steve Irwin was her “biggest inspiration” growing up, and she had early dreams of pursuing marine science as a career. But for now, events like Drag N’ Tag keep that love alive.
“Maybe one day down the road I will fall back on my science career and my Master’s,” Miss Toto said. “But my ultimate goal is to be able to do a Steve Irwin-type show with wildlife and sharks, but with me as a drag queen.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2024 Pride Edition of the Goodnewspaper
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Header image via the University of Miami
