Meet 11 year-old drag queen Violet Vixen, the alter-ego of schoolboy Leo Noakes. Although Leo was, as his mother says, “not the typical boy – as in what society perceives a boy to be,” he was inspired to experiment with makeup and drag after seeing episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

While his mother, Leanne, thought the show was inappropriate for his age, drag soon became Leo’s life, tying in dressing up with a love of performance. As he said when featured on UK TV show Loose Women, wearing drag gives him confidence and makes him feel “more like himself”.

11-year-old Leo has transformed himself into his alter-ego Violet Vixen… pic.twitter.com/vxUgni4JAG

— Loose Women (@loosewomen) August 8, 2018

Leo featured in the online documentary series Real Lives, with an episode devoted especially to him. While his mother at first wondered whether his interest in drag signified him wanting to change his gender, Leo says “I don’t necessarily want to be a girl. I want to be a boy doing makeup.”

The documentary also reveals the rather cruel abuse Leo receives from people online. It shows how he tries to brush it all off and have a positive outlook. “He just wants to show everyone its ok to be different. That’s what he taught me,” says his mother.

“He had the bullying at school,” she continues, “but the more bullying he got the more he did it.” He tells his bullies, “Why spend time giving hate to people who aren’t harming people and aren’t doing anything wrong, when you could embrace it and have fun with them?”

Towards the end of the documentary, Leo is surprised with a backstage visit to a show given by his idol, Courtney Act. The celebrity gives some touching advice to the 11 year-old drag queen when asked how to find friends. Courtney tells Leo to focus on his friends in dance class and to understand that things get easier as you get older and meet more people who understand you. 

Big thanks to @courtneyact for sending such a positive message to Leo/Violet Vixen on the show today. 💜 pic.twitter.com/fDIeR6SUsc

— Loose Women (@loosewomen) August 8, 2018

“You just have to keep living who you are and celebrating it every day,” Courtney explains.