A school has been criticised by a teenager and his family for blocking his participation in its end-of-term talent show because he wanted to perform in drag.

Lewis Bailey, 14, said that he was left distraught after spending weeks perfecting a lip-sync dance routine only to be told on the eve of last Tuesday’s event that he could not take part.

“I’m heartbroken and confused. After all the effort I have put into it, it has knocked my confidence a lot,” said Lewis, a student at Castle High school and visual arts college in Dudley.

“When I’m in drag I feel I’m truly being myself,” said the teenager, who has always loved dancing and decided he wanted to be a drag performer after watching the television show RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The school’s principal maintains that its decision was entirely made on the basis that it was not “age appropriate” for young people to perform drag acts.

His mother, Natalie, claimed the school’s legal team said that it was illegal for people under 18 to take part in drag act competitions and accused it of inventing the law because they “don’t accept him for who he is”.

She claimed: “The school, it’s very multicultural, and I think the school think some of the parents won’t like it. But people should be able to do what they want to do and be who they want to be.”

Lewis has performed in drag at home, and his family say his new hobby has helped him overcome a lack of confidence.



His performance, which was to have been his first in public, was a dance to a medley of tracks he mixed with his stepfather, including songs by Little Mix, Ariana Grande and RuPaul, and he was planning to wear a blazer, skirt, a silver wig and high heels bought for him by his grandmother.

Michelle King, the principal, said the school was inclusive and celebrated diversity. “We made the decision that it was not age appropriate for either the learner and for the intended audience, his peer group, for Lewis to appear as a ‘drag act’,” she said.



“We understood Lewis wanted to appear in the style of RuPaul, whose style of performance is characterised by strong language and sexual innuendo. We invited Lewis to appear in the show as a singer and were happy for him to dress in any manner he wished.”

King regretted that the school had not told the teenager earlier but stood by its belief that it is not appropriate for young people to perform drag acts. She said that RuPaul’s own TV show required contestants to be at least 18.



“We respect the long tradition of female impersonation in theatre. However, to appear as a drag queen goes beyond this.”

The school said in an additional statement that it was happy for the student to express his identity in whichever way he chose, adding that he had attended in drag on Friday during the school’s non-uniform day.