On Monday, rocker Adam Lambert joined
Raja as he celebrated being crowned season 3 winner of all-gay cabler
Logo's RuPaul's Drag Race.
Raja, 36, was crowned America's next
drag superstar after beating out two remaining finalists: Alexis
Mateo, 30, of St. Petersburgh, Florida and Manila Luzon, 25, of New
York City, New York.
“I wear drag because I love fashion,”
Raja
told PEOPLE.com on Monday night. “I love performing. I love
being in front of a crowd of people but above and beyond everything
it's because I love clothing and I love wearing clothing.”
“There's a part of me that's always
wanted to be a role model or a teacher or a mentor,” Raja added.
“I get emails from kids who are 13 years old and they say, 'I've
started a gay student alliance in my junior high and I've opened a
dialogue with my parents and I admire you.' There are times when I'm
just sitting at home and I'm reading these emails and tears will come
out of my eyes. I remember being that kid.”
“Pose! So proud of you,” Lambert
messaged to his more than 1 million Twitter followers along with a
link to a photo of Raja.
America's newest drag diva is also
Lambert's make-up artist. At the start of the season, Lambert
predicted Raja would be the queen to beat.
“You are the top drag queen!” he
told Raja. “Those bitches better watch out.”