There’s nothing 17-year-old Brett McDowall love more than putting on a wig, slipping into a pair of heels and a sparkly dress, painting his face with makeup, and transforming into his drag alter ego, Amberlea Fruitville.
Teenage drag queen Amberlea Fruitville at prom
Brett’s mom, Randi, couldn’t be prouder of her son, whose drag ambitions started when he first got his hands on his sister’s tutu at age four. Since then, Randi has been buying him costumes and makeup and driving him to drag competitions all around Florida.
Randi recently took to Twitter to share the immense pride she feels for her son, who came out as gay at 13, writing: “My son is a drag queen. This means he likes to dress as a woman for performance purposes. He is not transgender, he identifies as a male and does not want to be a woman. It’s hurtful to be rejected by family who don’t take the time to educate themselves.”
PSA: My son is a drag queen. This means he likes to dress as a woman for performance purposes. He is not transgender, he identifies as a male and does not want to be a woman. It’s hurtful to be rejected by family who don’t take the time to educate themselves. Please RT. pic.twitter.com/NEp1sqmGpq
— Giggles (@ICantEven01) December 2, 2018
She then asked people to retweet her post. And they did: The post has since gone viral, receiving nearly 19,000 likes, 7,000 comments and 6,000 retweets.
“What I love most about my son is that he has never been ashamed of his sexual identity or going out in drag,” she tells Gay Star News. “He is funny, an amazing singer and dancer and he owns it whenever he performs. He is kind, sensitive, smart and extremely loving and he brings joy to so many people,” she added. I could not be more proud of him.”