Drag star Courtney Act encourages children to be themselves in CBBC show
Drag star Courtney Act has become the latest celebrity to join CBBC as a Celebrity Supply Teacher, here to spread the world of LGBTQ+ inclusivity and acceptance!
According to Pink News, Courtney Act, who competed on the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and will star alongside fellow Drag Race alumni Monét X Change in the new West End production, Death Drop, thanked the Spice Girls for empowering her to be herself. She also encouraged children to be themselves, stating “it’s OK for boys to like boys, girls to like both, or to not even be a boy or a girl”.
With narration by Julie Hesmondhalgh, the 20-minute lesson saw Courtney Act speak about identity, acceptance and kindness. She began by explaining that, while growing up in Australia, she felt “different to the other kids”.
“I didn’t always see people who looked like me, or sounded like me, or felt like me,” she states.
“It made me feel like maybe there was something wrong with who I am. I felt isolated and alone and I was scared to be myself.”
“I realized I wasn’t alone, that there are other people out there like me – I just had to look a little bit harder to find them,” she goes on to say.
She goes on to explain the concept of identity, and teaches the audience that it’s “all the different things that define who you are”.
“It can be your gender, your race, your sexuality, your religion or even your hair color,” she continues, explaining that some people might try to tell others what their identity should be. “It’s really important that you find your own interests and hobbies and form our own opinions over time.”
“To be confident in your identity you have to accept and love yourself first,” she adds before quoting Oscar Wilde: “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”
The lesson ends with Courtney empathizing the importance of kindness and acceptance, encouraging others to make friends with others who look lonely and stand up against bullying. Parents and fans watching at home praised Courtney for her beautiful and inspiring words, calling her the “perfect role model”.
Courtney also acknowledged that doing the show was a full circle moment, since she was fired from a kids’ TV presenter job 20 years prior to this appearance after pictures of her in drag were published in a local newspaper.
She tweets: “I was a bit nervous because of all the negative messages I had picked up about queer people not being appropriate for kids, then I realized – this is exactly why I should be doing this. Thank you BBC for this opportunity.”
