Following the anti-drag queen rally at London’s Tate Britain, Dancing On Ice star The Vivienne emphasised how ‘proud’ she is to perform in front of such a diverse crowd.
Patriotic Alternative, a white supremacist organisation, organised rallies outside a Drag Queen Story Hour UK event in London on Saturday [February 11].
Drag artists read to children at libraries, festivals, and schools as part of the Drag Queen Story Hour UK programmes.
Protesters hoisted banners that said ‘groomer’ with an image of an LGBTQ+ Pride flag and ‘Leave Our Children Alone!’ in front of a line of police. Some arrived wearing t-shirts that said, ‘Groom Dogs, Not Children.’
The Welsh drag queen, who sprang to popularity after winning the inaugural season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, is now teamed with newbie Colin Grafton and is on a roll.
Despite the ‘horrendous’ things happening in the LGBTQ+ community, the celebrity – real name James Lee Williams – expressed gratitude for having her tale shared on national television.
‘A lot of my community in America are going through a horrendous time now, and it’s trickling into the UK,’ he explained.
‘How does drag queens reading children a storybook translate into grooming? It’s because of crazy politicians that have their own agenda like “who can we put the blame on now? Let’s try the gays again.”‘
He continued: ‘I do drag to have fun for myself, there’s no agenda. It’s all hidden motives and people pointing fingers. I think it’s absolutely insane.’
Fans recently praised the Vivienne for appearing without her ‘armour’ for the first time.
The TV personality admits to being nervous about being their vulnerable selves in front of millions during training before heading to the ice.
Addressing the beautiful moment, James said: ‘It was one of my proudest skates, not my perfect skate, but it touched and resonated with a lot of people.
‘Everyone has a certain armour that they use in the world, whether that be make-up, perfume or a work uniform, wig. It was fab!’
When she’s not bashing it on the ice In her latest collaboration with Skittles, Vivienne encourages people to be their actual honest selves.
‘It’s February… you know it’s a bit of a depressing time of the year for everyone,’ James explained.
‘We’ve come out of a pandemic, so the House of Joy which is a pop-up store in Soho where you can leave your troubles behind, and have a fabulous rainbow coffee.
‘Having some performances from your favourite Queens, and yeah just leave your troubles behind for an hour. Very excited for it!’
The Vivienne has helped launch the Skittles House Of Joy, a pop-up space offering free rainbow coffees, motivational pep-talks from some of the UK’s best talent in a bid to spread the joy through the dreary month of February. The House of Joy is open 11 – 4.30pm on the 16th and 17th February located on Old Compton Street.
Dancing on Ice returns on Sunday at 6:30pm on ITV.