BBC Celebrates 15-Year-Old Drag Queen

The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) published a puff piece celebrating a 15-year-old student who began developing his drag act at 13, is supported by his parents and teachers, and who longs to drop out of school to do “gig after gig” full-time.

Titled “Cherry West: From schoolboy Sam to drag teen,” the Wednesday essay begins by describing teenage drag queen Sam Carlin, who goes by the alter ego “Cherry West,” as an aspiring schoolboy “dreaming of a flamboyant future” ever since his first encounter with the “drag scene” at the tender age of 10, where he “connected” with performing as a woman on stage.

That encounter took place after the family “stumbled” upon a drag bar while on vacation, according to Carlin’s dad, who claims to have thought the visit would be amusing.

“So we went in and had a great time, although I got taken up on stage and I got dressed up into a drag queen. Sam thought it was very funny; I was very embarrassed,” his father said.

“He took it from there. We knew Sam kind of liked the drag scene, and the comedy aspect of it,” the father added. “He’s always been a performer.”

Teenage drag queen Cherry West is dreaming of a flamboyant future https://t.co/J8fMZqAQSs

— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) March 22, 2022

After Carlin, who is based in Edinburgh, Scotland, shared his interest in drag performance with his parents, they “encouraged” him to practice at home, with his sister teaching him to apply makeup.

The boy’s mother, Karen, told BBC Radio Scotland that she or her husband always accompany their son when performing.

Though the father — who serves as the teen’s chauffeur for gigs — initially expressed concerns over how his son’s drag performances would be received with the teenager going public, “he’s just had great feedback,” with support from Carlin’s school and teachers who “absolutely love it,” the father claimed.

“I have a show coming up that some of the teachers actually really want to come to so I’m very grateful to have the school behind my back and all the pupils,” Carlin said. “They’re just doing their own thing, they don’t really mind it.”

The teen also boasted of the confidence he gains from wearing drag costumes and wigs — which his father admits to purchasing for him.

“I just love how confident it makes me feel in drag,” Carlin said. “I’m quite confident out of drag but when I’m on stage performing and entertaining everyone it does give me that boost.”

The essay claims the teenager, who “would love to leave school” to perform full time, currently focuses on “private functions, online appearances, Pride events and drag nights” with a goal of participating in Ru Paul’s Drag Race after turning 18.

Earlier this month, the House Democrats’ 2022 campaign committee hired a man with the stage name “Lady Bunny,” who presents himself as a parody of a woman in “drag,” to entertain Democrat legislators during their pre-election strategy session.

In December, a seminarian at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church of Logan Square in Chicago led children in a service dressed in drag “to reflect on a joy that overflows so abundantly,” the church announced on Facebook, adding that it was joining “a growing ecumenical movement of congregations throughout North America in keeping an expanded Advent season.”

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.