Dad Shares Inspiring Story of How He Accepted His 11-Year-Old’s Dream To Perform as a Drag Queen

A heartwarming story of a dad and son

This dad has come forward with his story of acceptance of his 11-year old son performing as a drag queen. 

Even though it took some time for him to accept Fabian’s new-found passion, Darren Butler did his best to be a supportive dad. 

With his dad's support, Fabian is on a way to becoming a successful drag queen

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Drag queen art has been around since the Shakespeare period. But it got bloom in popularity only over last few years

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One notable events in drag history were New York City's 1969 StoneWall riots.

At the time, drag queens took to the streets to protest against police raids on gay bars in the city. This eventually lead to the creation of the Gay Liberation Front.

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With more free trans and gay rights, drag queens have become acceptable n society

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More drag queens now dominate theatre and stage

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The famed Divine, who died in 1988, appeared in many movies by the director John Waters and, by the early 1990s, RuPaul was on the cusp of global fame, combining a drag persona with a recording career that included a duet with Elton John.

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Here is a heartwarming story of Fabian Butler

11-year old Fabian goes by the stage name Francheska Valley and is the United Kingdom’s youngest and fiercest drag queen.

Fabian has developed a great passion for drag recently

Fabian started dressing up when he was just 5-years-old after he would borrow his mom Rachel’s makeup and jewelry

At the young age of 8, Fabian was clear what he wanted to do in future

Fabian then approached his parents confessing his dream of becoming a drag queen to them

Mom Rachel was instantly up for her son's dream

She said on the matter:

“It’s just normal to us – I’ve grown with him through this and we didn’t need to have a conversation about it as it was just normality.”

Fabian's dad took his time in accepting this dream but he eventually came around

Darren found it difficult to accept Fabian wanting to wear makeup and dress up which caused a lot of disagreements in the family. Rachel recalled:

“When he was seven, he started wearing makeup more often and Darren would tell him to take it off which would leave Fabian very upset.”

Darren admits he was not okay with the idea at first

Darren recalls that he used to take his son to play different sports when he was young

Darren, who works as a machine operator, said:

“I was the opposite when I was younger. When you have your first boy, you have expectations. I used to box as a kid so I always hoped that he would grow up and want to pursue boxing.”

But Darren could see “just see that it wasn’t for him.”

He said, “Fabian started a football club when he was 6 but you could see he wasn’t happy; he much preferred his drama club and gymnastics group. When I tried to get him into boxing, he would say ‘I’m not getting my lip split’. He’s not got a bad bone in his body.”

Darren was in denial when his son first confessed

“When he started dressing up, I was in denial, I just thought it was kids being kids at an age like that. I just thought he was going through a phase but when I spoke to my wife about it and realized that it wasn’t a phase, I was hurt.”

Darren was blown away when he first attended his son's show. He said:

“She [Rachel] persuaded me to go to his first performance, I really didn’t want to go. But as soon as I saw how happy he was on stage, I could see how much it meant to him.”

The proud dad says, 

What is gender dysphoria?

Gender dysphoria involves a conflict between a person’s sex and the gender with which he or she identifies with. People with gender dysphoria experience high levels of discomfort with their own bodies, and they often report feeling as if it isn’t their own.

These people are commonly called transgenders

It is the bitter reality of the world that very few families accept their transgender sons

According to the Human Rights Campaign, studies have shown that familial rejection can lead to the LGBTQ+ youth engaging in behaviors and activities that endanger their health, trigger depression, and other mental health issues, and, in some extreme cases, can lead to homelessness and suicide.

When a child comes out as trans, one thing that he needs the most is unlimited family support

Child welfare expert, Caitlin Ryan, stated that “family acceptance predicts greater self-esteem, social support, and general health status,” for LGBTQ+ youth.

“It also protects against depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation and behaviors – issues for which transgender youth are at disproportionate risk.”

More families are now accepting their sons as transgender. An example of this couple is here.

The 17-year old recently made headlines for his unique story

Grey wasn't born as a boy and it was only now that this kid started living with his true authentic self

Love dedicated an emotional Facebook post to her son recently

“The first thing we wonder about when we get pregnant (after all the holy crap! I’m pregnant) is, is it a boy or girl,” she wrote.

“We get so excited, picking out clothes and nursery decor based on the sex of our babies. We throw parties and pick out names. We assign attributes (like strength or beauty) based on what our child has growing between their legs. And MOST of the time, that works out perfectly fine.”

Love and Brandon are expecting their next child but decided to redo the gender reveal party for their son

For a long time Grey felt he didn't belong to his body

“Other times, that child grows up feeling like a completely different person, and if you’re really lucky, they open up and tell you the truth, no matter how scary or daunting that could be.”

Love then made an important announcement for her son

“We wanted to announce that we got it wrong 17 years ago when we told the world we were having a little girl, and named that child McKenzie,” which was followed by some incredible photos from a gender reveal party the family threw especially for their son.

Grey was officially introduced to the world. 

“So, we’d like to introduce you to our SON: Grey. He’s much like any other seventeen-year-old nerdy boy, stays up way too late gaming, hates showering, and eats too much junk food. We will be referring to Grey with he/him pronouns from here on out, but he told us to tell you that he also doesn’t mind if you use they/them.”

The happiness on Grey's face is everything

“The colors of the balloons we chose for Grey match the Non-binary pride flag, and the cake layers are those that represent Transgender bodies, for those that are wondering,” Love then explained.

Love made further clarification. 

“Grey approved of this post before I put it up, including the use of his dead name. This was a post meant to share with friends and family his transition mainly. Not expected to go viral,” she explained.

“Grey is also fully capable of making his decision on his pronouns and how he identifies. We in no way influenced him, we just provided him with a happy, healthy home where he feels like he can be true and honest.”

“IF Grey chooses to start testosterone, that is up to Grey and Grey alone. He is almost eighteen. However, Grey is non-binary and may choose not to. That is a journey for Grey and his doctor to decide on. Not for strangers on the internet to comment on. We are well educated on the effects of T. We do not need or want your Google degrees,” she hit back at the people who began questioning her family’s decision.

The family has received immense love and support from everyone.  

“While the major majority of comments have been so loving and sweet, the hateful ones (specifically the ones telling our entire family we will be going to hell) have no place on a thread meant to celebrate our son’s transition. These bigoted, transphobic trolls are attacking a seventeen-year-old. And shame on you for that. Luckily our children are more woke and less hateful than those leaving negative, hurtful comments.”

Indeed this kid is a lucky person to have such a supportive family!