A teen drag queen received triumphant applause, and internet attention, for death dropping at graduation.
Video of Brandon Austin’s graduation ceremony is going viral for all the right reasons. While we’ve seen many queer valedictorians giving speeches about being LGBTQ, we haven’t seen too many high school or college graduates doing a death drop in front of their whole school before. And that’s exactly what Austin did in front of West Kent College.
The video below shows Austin already receiving applause as he struts up to receive his diploma. And once he has the paper in his hands, he gives the audience a show with the iconic move. It sure surprised the administration members, but none seemed upset. Only lightly confused.
How to graduate like a pro pic.twitter.com/fdPahK9Nrz
— sophia stardust (@sophia_stardust) July 12, 2019
After the video went viral, it was revealed that Brandon Austin is a drag performer under the named Sophia Stardust. Thankfully, this show of cheer and support isn’t new to Austin. He says despite never actually coming out, most were familiar enough with him to get the message. And despite few cases of teasing, he’s never really been bullied.
“I never came out – I wasn’t badly bullied as such,” he told GayStarNews. “People would tease, saying to me you’re gay and we know it. It can really destroy your confidence.”
“When I went to college and I saw openly gay people for the first time, I was overwhelmed.”
As for how he started doing drag, he says he was pulled on stage while watching a show once and was forced to lip-sync with three other people. At that moment, Austin realized that he liked what he was doing.
Now with the internet’s attention on him, the graduated student hopes to continue doing drag and possibly try out for Drag Race UK. But as he said, “I’m not going to apply until I’m ready.”
