Rise Of Cherry, Decline Of West
The Guardian, the leading left-wing paper in Britain, is on the Hungarian election case. From its latest dispatch:
Until the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hungary’s general election campaign was dominated by such ruling party preoccupations as “traditional values” and protecting children from “LGBT propaganda”.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine featured in the slogans of Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party or the opposition parties which have united to dislodge him.
Teenage drag queen Cherry West is dreaming of a flamboyant future after stumbling across the “hilarious” drag scene on holiday as a 10-year-old.
Cherry is the alter ego of Sam Carlin, 15, an Edinburgh schoolboy who connected with the comedy of performing on stage as a woman.
Sam was no stranger to the stage when he decided to develop a drag act at 13.
He started busking during the Edinburgh Festival when he was seven, and was in a boy band from the age of 10 to 13.
His current passion began when he was introduced to drag on a family holiday to Lanzarote five years ago.
His dad, who is also called Sam Carlin, told BBC Scotland’s Mornings with Kaye Adams: “We just stumbled upon this drag bar and thought ‘this is going to be a laugh’.
“So we went in and had a great time, although I got taken up on stage and I got dressed up into a drag queen. Sam thought it was very funny; I was very embarrassed.
“He took it from there. We knew Sam kind of liked the drag scene, and the comedy aspect of it.
“He’s always been a performer.”
When Sam, who is a fan of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, told his parents he wanted to do drag, they encouraged him to start by practising at home, and his sister taught him how to do his make-up.
“We didn’t want everybody else to know at that point in time,” his dad said. “We weren’t sure what people’s reaction would be.
“But since then, since he made it public, he’s just had great feedback.”
Sam said he was “quite surprised” at how supportive his school had been since he started performing in drag last year.
“All the teachers absolutely love it,” he said.
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