'Only gay in the village' becomes carnival queen

 

Gay and proud: David Birch waves during the carnival parade. Click enlarge for full image

 

 

 

For one sleepy West country town, it is an unchanging tradition that stretches back decades.

As autumn falls and the days shorten, crowds gather for the annual Blackberry carnival and to cheer the young carnival queen.

But this year, eyebrows have been raised among town traditionalists by an alternative choice of queen - a gay teenage boy sporting a tiara and tight lilac dress.

David Birch, 15, paraded before thousands of people in the quiet town of Axbridge standing in the back of a yellow sports car and flanked by Roman legionnaries.

Carnival organisers picked David, who chooses to be called Darius, to be an alternative carnival queen after he auditioned for the role of queen alongside girls from the town.

It is the first time a male had auditioned for the job and organisers decided to create the new role to include him.

However, some locals in the South Mendip town of 2,500 people have been outraged by the decision. One grandmother, who declined to be named, branded it "ridiculous".

She said: "How can you have a boy as a carnival queen? It's completely ridiculous. It has to be a girl, just like it has been for years.

"The notion that you could let a young boy do it just to give him something to do is just stupid - it's PC gone mad."

Some locals had threatened to throw eggs at the alternative queen as the procession wound through the town's streets, but in the end David said it passed peacefully.

David said: "It was a really good reception, there was no negativity."

He was chosen to be queen after auditioning in front of the town Mayor alongside three female hopefuls at the church fete earlier this year.

The committee chose him as queen alongside traditional queen 16-year-old Kayleigh Sweet in the Up Pompeii-themed parade.

Robin Goodfellow, chairman of the carnival committee said: "We had to decide which would offend people least - including the boy or leaving him out.

"It was felt we couldn't eliminate him just because he was male. This was the best solution on the day.

"Some people might be offended but we would rather be inclusive than exclusive. It's hard enough to get people involved as it is."

David, who lives with his foster carer in the nearby village of East Huntspill, hopes to eventually work in television as a presenter.

His foster carer, Belinda Swansbury, said: "His family were very supportive but we had to explain the negatives as well as the positives.

"There are going to be negatives, he has already experienced discrimination because he is a young gay teenager.

"We told him about the consequences of the media attention because it's a controversial matter - a man becoming a carnival queen.

"But he was mature enough to make a decision and he chose to go for it.

"He is such an extrovert he has just loved it all.

"We all cheered for him on Saturday but I was scared and apprehensive because it only takes one person to ruin it all.

"We were very happy with everything and pleased that the alternative fete Queen is a boy.

"I wasn't scared that David was too young to be pigeonholed at 15-years-old.

"From the moment I met him I had no doubt in my mind that he was sure of his sexuality - he is definitely gay."

I'd nail it.

Best thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

 

And he's my age! Something about this article is so cute. <333333

ewww

ewww

 

Could you see this happening in your town??:P

Could you see this happening in your town??:P

 

haha not without someone getting shot. But actually yeah, we do have alot of openly gay people in my small city. The only problem is some redneck would shoot someone.

Could you see this happening in your town??:P

 

I could, because it happens every year! I always seem to miss the Gay Pride Parade here, but even so, they have a drag queen float. One year they threw Mardi Gras beads out to the audience. Pretty rad. Wish I could witness another one but we're always on vacation when it happens. ;_;

thats ugly :s