Sophia to sprinkle stardust on home town’s first Pride parade
A 21-year-old drag artist – who has been picked as the cover girl for the first ever Tonbridge Pride event this summer – says acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community is growing.
Brandon Austin, from Hadlow, is better known as his drag persona ‘Sophia Stardust’.
And with almost 58,000 followers on TikTok, he hopes to inspire young people in Tonbridge to be proud of themselves and accepting of others.
Brandon struggled with his identity growing up and was the victim of bullying during his time at secondary school.
He said: “I thought I was this alien creature from another planet because you’re not taught about being gay.
“There was no one like me, and I know every drag queen says it, but there wasn’t.
“Secondary school was horrid, it was horrible because I didn’t know who I was.
“On top of that, I had all the straight boys telling me I was gay because I was very camp.
“I wasn’t physically bullied but mentally bullied, which I think is actually worse.”
However, when moving to West Kent College in Tonbridge, Brandon felt it was safe to come out and he started performing in drag at just 16.
His graduation from college kick-started his career, as he skipped across the stage and fell into a ‘death drop’ after collecting his certificate.
The video exploded on social media and currently has more than four million views on Twitter.
Over the past four years, Sophia has become well-known on the drag scene and performs regularly across the UK.
She is a resident drag queen at the Hard Rock Cafe in London’s Oxford Street and can often be
found kicking, splitting and twirling at brunches and nightclubs across the South East.
She has also been booked by the likes of Madame Tussauds for social campaigns.
But controversy is never far away.
In recent weeks there has been a raging debate online over whether children should be present at such events.
Some states in America have even revealed proposals to place a ban on under 18s from attending drag shows.
But Sophia says such a move would be a negative, backward step.
She explained: “My little sister is seven years old and I’ve introduced her to drag and she loves it now.
“It opens children’s minds so much.
“The boys who teased me in secondary school teased me because they knew nothing about it.
“If kids grow up knowing about drag queens and the whole community then it’s going to be normal.
“That’s the direction we’re in which is so nice to see and it’s just going to get better and better.”
For Sophia, drag is not just a hobby but a livelihood, and allows the expression of emotions about difficult situations.
Each year she creates a visual performance in memory of her late mum.
She said: “I want to celebrate her and her life because people aren’t going to forget her.
“I just do it to hopefully inspire other younger people who have lost their mum.
“Just because you’re poor, without family members, without your mum, you can still make a great life and have an impact on other people.”
Recently, Brandon celebrated his 21st birthday with a special drag event in London – the line-up of which included Chatham’s River Medway from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
And for those wanting to follow in her footsteps?: “The best advice I can give to people is just to be nice to everyone.
“Support and message other drag queens, that’s what I’ve done and it has worked for me!”