Lauren Noakes is a mother of an 11-year-old boy, Leo, who recently came out as a drag queen.
While her son loves nothing more than dressing as a woman, his mother says she couldn’t be more proud of him.
According to Lauren, she always suspected that Leo was different than other boys but didn’t expect him to be courageous enough to show his true colors to others.
Despite the bullying and strange looks that he receives, Leo is a brave young boy who doesn’t care much about what others think of him. He openly identifies as a male but admits that he likes to wear makeup and dress in feminine clothing. He does so both at home and at school.
Noakes claims Leo has always been strongly interested in feminine features. According to her, he would always closely observe her “as she chose clothes, did her hair, and put her makeup on.”
At first, the mother believed all of this was just a phase that will pass on its own. After some time, however, Lauren’s insecurities escalated, and she became worried about her son’s future.
“I was careful not to make an issue of it, and the last thing I wanted was to shame Leo. But if I’m honest, I did think it was a bit strange. I questioned whether it was my influence. Back then I liked Rihanna and Beyoncé. Was he picking up on them? I had no idea how to handle it,” Lauren told the Mirror.
“My partner Sean and I got together when Leo was three, so until then he had no father figure. I felt guilty for the part I played. And when a friend warned I was making Leo gay, and that he may not have a happy life, I was crushed. Although I’d never discriminate, I hated the thought of making Leo’s life difficult.”
And so, when Leo turned six, his mom threw away all of his feminine clothes and tried to introduce him to cars. While this ‘worked’ for a while, Leo began showing his true colors once again after watching the show RuPaul’s Drag Race.
When Lauren found out, she took away his gadgets and forbade him to watch the show. After pleading to let him watch it, the mother eventually gave in.
Leo found the courage to start dressing as a woman again, but he was still afraid of leaving the house as a drag queen due to his bullies. One day, however, everything changed.
“On the first day of Year Five, I walked him through the playground, nervously glancing at the black leggings, butterfly shoes and girls’ cardi he was wearing.”
“We’d bought them together after I’d seen how much it meant to him. His beaming smile meant I knew he’d found his true identity. I couldn’t have felt prouder of my trailblazing son,” Lauren recalled.
Ever since that day, Leo reached out to the Drag Community and set up an Instagram account where he regularly shares his new looks.
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