Nunoy Revlon
Nunoy Revlon
Words by Andre Lawes Menchavez
Like a Philippine sampaguita growing from a crack in the concrete, Nunoy Revlon emerged like a star from a void of darkness. After surviving a childhood of violence due to his queer and Filipinx identity, the 28-year-old dancer ran away from home at 17 to live alone on the streets of Paris—until he found his chosen family in the Paris ballroom scene and became a powerhouse dominating runways around the world, from HBO’s Legendary to Paris Fashion Week.
“I grew up in a very small village, southeast of the Netherlands, where I was adopted from the Philippines by a Caucasian family, and I was the only person of color in this village,” Nunoy said to me over Zoom from his Paris apartment. “I grew up in a systemically racist village where there was a clear message that you should want to be white, and that people of color were below white people.”
Nunoy’s white parents were Catholic extremists who worked as conversion therapists in his village. “When I came out as gay when I was 12, people in my village went crazy,” Nunoy says. “I had to unfortunately see the priest every day, have bible class and undergo conversion therapy. It was so taboo. And this was all happening while my identity as a person of color was also being mentally beaten out of me. I felt I was brainwashed, because until I was about 17 years old, I would tell people I was white, not Filipino.”
“I want to be an example of how the world should be, so even in the case of my parents and my village, I choose forgiveness because I don’t want to be angry, I want to just be me.”
Nunoy shares that his childhood experiences in this village included constant physical abuse, even requiring medical attention at times. But despite this violence, Nunoy continues to prove that Philippine people truly are resilient, powerful beings.
“I want to be an example of how the world should be, so even in the case of my parents and my village, I choose forgiveness because I don’t want to be angry, I want to just be me,” Nunoy says. “I lived on the streets and I have conquered so much. I am truly so grateful to be here today, to have these opportunities, to have my chosen family I have now. So even after it all, I always try to give off love.”
This chosen family Nunoy references is the legendary House of Revlon of Paris. Together as a house, they competed on HBO’s hit show, Legendary. The show, which debuted in 2020, shines a spotlight on the ballroom scene, which emerged from New York City’s Black and Brown communities around the time of the Harlem Renaissance. They created underground circles called “houses”—often made up of alienated queer people, like Nunoy in his childhood—who would compete in “balls” with various runway categories for trophies and cash prizes. Ballroom provided a space of unapologetic queer expression, celebrating the kinds of things that could get you killed, abused or ostracized outside ballroom’s vibrant walls.
The House of Revlon in Paris placed third on Legendary’s third season.
“I joined Legendary not for the money, but to showcase the family, personality and celebration that ballroom is,” Nunoy says, wearing his House of Revlon t-shirt while cuddled next to his cat, Kitty. “Knowing I’d be on such a platform like Legendary, I also really wanted to showcase being proudly Filipino. It was really beautiful to see myself as an Asian person on Season 3, especially because in other seasons, there were none.”
Nunoy mentions that one of his main goals was to show an international audience that Filipinx people are more than what others often believe us to be—especially, when it comes to sex. Nunoy’s favorite category to compete in at balls is “sex siren,” a category that is judged based on a contestant’s ability to exude sex appeal.
Nunoy Revlon wants to show people that Filipinx people are more than what others often believe them to be, especially when it comes to sex.
Nunoy Revlon
With a majority of Asian male depictions in entertainment positioning our bodies as undesirable, Nunoy’s visibility as a sex siren is monumental. “I am very vocal about my issue with the fact that we as Asians are typically looked at as maybe just cute, but I wanted to show the world that we can be sexy as well,” Nunoy says. “Especially at the time of filming, I was the only Asian male that I know of that walked the ‘sex siren’ category in Europe… I’m glad that I was able to show in balls and on Legendary that we are sexy, yes, and that we also are heartwarming, caring, romantic and anything and everything we want to be.”
Nunoy’s career didn’t end with Legendary—in fact, he’s just getting started.
He once looked up at the Parisian skyline from a life on the streets. But last week, he not only acted as the assistant choreographer and rehearsal director for Christian Louboutin’s Paris Fashion Week show at the top of the Eiffel Tower, but he even got to perform in it as well.
Adorned in a pair of sparkling gray pants that emulated the twinkling lights of the tower at night, on a glass bridge atop Paris’ most infamous monument, Nunoy performed his art on quite literally the highest stage in the city.
“I got contacted by the main choreographer to assist her and also be the rehearsal director and, honestly, I still can’t believe it,” Nunoy shares. But in typical Nunoy fashion, he frames the opportunity as less about him personally, and more about an opportunity for his community. “One of the best parts about this was that I was able to bring ballroom into [the event]. Not only by just having myself in it, but I also picked some of the dancers and we ended up having one-third of our dancers for the show coming from the ballroom scene. It was beautiful,” he says.
Louboutin also requested Nunoy specifically to perform in the show, even giving him his own solo.
The outfit he wore offstage was an eye-catching ensemble created to mimic parts of the Philippine flag. Atop the Eiffel Tower, Nunoy posed with the garment, proudly representing our culture and taking space like the superstar he is.
As our conversation was coming to a close, Nunoy and I discussed his plans for the future, including his upcoming trip to the Philippines—our shared archipelagic home that Nunoy has never been to. While reflecting on this trip and his life ahead, tears welled up in his eyes.
“I pushed away my Filipino identity for so long, and now I really feel that in everything I do, I feel the Philippines inside of me and our people so deep in my heart whenever I take any stage,” Nunoy says. “I’m so excited for this Philippines trip because, my goal is to ultimately one day open a culture house in the Philippines where LGBTQ youth who’ve run away or been kicked out can live there and actually have a chance at life.”
“Ballroom is magical,” Nunoy continues. “Because of ballroom, I learned that I could be celebrated, that I was enough. I want to go to places like the Philippines and teach workshops where all the profit goes back into the community, using funds even to buy young people tickets to their first balls to find out more about themselves like ballroom has for me…These small gestures can open minds and create happiness.”
After all, happiness is what Nunoy found in this community, and what he hopes to share with the world—especially in a fierce pair of Louboutins.
Published on October 9, 2022