A 13-year-old drag queen has told of how his alter ego boosted his confidence and changed his life. Alfie Smith discovered drag two years ago through acclaimed reality series RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Now it has not only become his form of expression, but ultimately his liberation. Like many LGBTQ+ children today, growing up queer in Bristol, Alfie was determined in amplifying his voice, as he first found solace in drama and theatre at his school.
However, upon being introduced to Drag Race at the age of 11, Alfie was immediately transfixed and inspired to make a name for himself- or perhaps an entirely new persona. With upbeat music, playful self-expression and vibrant costumes, going into drag was no different to theatre for Alfie, but it greatly assured him that his voice mattered, and there was indeed more to the world than public perceptions and expectations around kids like him.
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He said: ”One of my aunties told me that there was a show called Drag Race and she’d thought I would like it so it had sprung off of that. I had always thought that with make-up that I could experiment on my face.
“All of my family is artistic - like my dad is a painter and decorator and my granddad was too - and I’ve been doing drag for two years now and in school I’m really confident in art lessons and drama which are my main subjects.
“So that boosted my confidence to do make-up and Drag Race had a really big impact on my life since my auntie recommended it to me. I would go round her house to watch it and I went deeper into every season of the show. It was [the show] that ended up making me and I was like ‘whoa that is me’.”
Through drag, Alfie began experimenting with makeup by incorporating his looks into the other half of himself, Esme. While Alfie states that he and Esme are no different, he strongly believes that his drag can showcase his creativity and personality that can help spread joy and laughter.
He said: “When I was creating my drag persona, it kind of gradually happened and for my birthday the aunt that recommended me Drag Race bought me my first ever make-up palette and then two days after my birthday, so the 16th of January which is my drag birthday, it was the first time I applied make-up.
“Me and her [Esme] are very similar because out of drag I have long hair and I use my hair in drag because one it’s the money and it saves wig money but there are some differences too.
“If anyone hates on Esme, I can just put her away and not think about it. Then when someone hates on me, it gets a bit out of hand but I don’t really care about it- like my dad always says it goes from one ear, out the other. Outside of drag, I’m very femme and wear make-up but in drag I’m more creative.”
Alfie has furthered his path to drag by catapulting Esme into the world of social media, where she has been growing traction on Instagram and TikTok, where Esme proudly demonstrates her glamorous makeup routines. For Alfie, social media has helped him both find confidence and a community, where he wasn’t as alienated as well as feeling the most accepted and authentic.
He said: “When I first created TikTok it was my first ‘boy’ account, then when I started posting make-up videos, it was sort of like ‘whoa, that boy is doing makeup’- when I created the Esme account people were accepting of it because it more a drag queen doing makeup, not a boy doing makeup. If I wasn’t a drag queen I would get more hate and I’ll probably stay off it.”
He continues: “Social media can be very dangerous, but there are certain communities that you just don’t find in real life- like in my school there aren’t people that wear make-up or look like me, and then online, there are thousands and millions of people that do it.
“So it's easier to connect with people and with me putting myself online, it’s helped me a lot when I went to Pride. I had drag queens noticing me and I had the Bristol drag queens asking me for photos when it should be me asking them for photos!”
Alfie’s family and close friends have been by his side since the start of his drag journey. Alfie’s parents in particular have been fully supportive of his passion, while simultaneously overseeing his social media to ensure his safety both online and off.
Alfie’s father, Stephen Smith, said: “I didn’t really know at the start about what we were doing and it’s one of those areas where you ask yourself ‘what do you do?’ But we sort of embraced it and we don’t do haters - that’s all I can say. I don’t deal with this whole thing about there’s this or that when it comes to the internet, we just deal with these moments as they come.
“We live in a council estate in Bristol and our community base is quite strong and that helped first because people would notice Alfie not even online to start with, within our local area, and they’d say “oh look at your son, he’s doing this” and that was with our local friends and family with the text messages and it grew like that.
“We took that as the community was behind us, and not just as a family, because we support him 100%- there’s no doubt about that. We have a big backing from where we are locally; the internet is scary but let’s take this next step to see where it takes Alfie, Esme or whoever he wants to be, when he wants to be it.”
Alfie has also praised the tireless support of his inner circle, which he states that he further strengthened him to continue pursuing his dreams, while also aiding in having a thick skin when combating hate and bigotry.
He said: “When everyone found out and our small community found what I did and they appreciated it, it gave me the confirmation that I don’t need to care what anyone thinks anymore. People that I know supported it and if someone I didn’t know supported it, I’d be like ‘well, people I know support me’ so I feel like online when people don’t like it and disagree with it, it’s their problem and their loss.
“In my school, it’s very welcoming and it's a multicultural school. My friend group wouldn’t take any crap if anyone was rude to me, they would get a whole tsunami to come and get them. My friend group is so nice and we all have each other’s backs- it’s like we’re one person. I love my friends so much.”
Esme’s presence has certainly caught the attention of many both online and in real life, which took a much more positive turn recently when attending his first Bristol Pride this year. Attending Pride for the first time, became a life changing moment for the aspiring tween drag queen, and has influenced him to be an integral asset to own community in the years to come.
He said: “I went with one of my aunties, not the one who introduced me to drag, but her family goes nearly every year and I thought this time, I should come along. I also met [Canada’s Drag Race winner of Season 1] Priyanka.
“How that happened was that I was standing near the front of the stage and Priyanka pointed at me asking “What’s your name?” and that’s her whole brand to ask what’s your name. I said my name and she gave me a free ticket to go backstage.
“Going to Pride, it was very much like I’m not alone and now it’s surreal. There are so many people and the amount of people I met from Pride who messaged me and thanked me for my support, it was just… wow.”
As the concept of drag centres on individuality and self-love, Alfie hopes that he can continue to shine bright as a queen himself in order to inspire other kids to be unafraid and unapologetically themselves. With bigger and better plans in store, Alfie is looking ahead to grow with much more power and responsibility to shine on issues that matter in his community, while working to shed a light on visibility for all LGBTQ+ folk through his art.
“I do want to start doing shows and I do have a show in the planning- Drag Race will be a plus side in the future. I'm looking to perform at Pride next year and someone who was performing this year suggested that they would like to see me perform.
“The LGBTQ community have not had their rights for a lifetime so I can share my voice and put my 10 p in, then I’m going to do it. I want other kids like me to know that they can just be themselves and even if you don’t have that support from your parents, just make sure you educate them even if they don’t agree with it. There will be a turnaround point where it’ll be either my son or no son.”
As for Alfie’s father, he hopes to be able to be a beacon of light for his son and family one step at a time, as he strongly urges other parents of LGBTQ+ children to educate themselves and listen- so that kids can be allowed to live in the world that exists, rather than the world as it should exist.
Stephen said: “I think we’re still being educated every single day and I’m just embracing it by taking every day as it comes- hopefully he’ll get stronger and make something out of himself.
“Maybe he can make a mark in the world and show people that he can do what he does and do what they want to do. People like me, I was naïve and I was the dad that hated it for a couple of years and Alfie’s mummy was more of a supporter.
“Alfie roping me in while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race was cool and I must admit I did enjoy it. If he ever gets onto Drag Race, we can do the daddy-son challenge so I can show a little of my persona off.
“Knowledge is power and Alfie has educated me and he’s given me the power to give him the power to be able to carry on doing what he’s doing.”
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