A SCOTTISH drag queen's fantastic pro-independence performance has won praise online, racking up hundreds of likes on Instagram and receiving warm words from Janey Godley.
A clip of Glasgow-based Lady Rampant lip-syncing to one of the comedian's popular Nicola Sturgeon voice-overs demanding independence made waves on social media, with Godley calling it "amazing".
The climax of the performance sees the 23-year-old drag star rip up a photograph of Tory leader Boris Johnson while Lily Allen's F You plays.
She told The National: "I consider myself a political and comedy queen, and I’m a big fan of Janey Godley – who is a political comedian. So it just felt right to sort of combine the two, combine her craft and my craft, to deliver a Brexit performance to a Glasgow audience. And it’s obviously no surprise that I’m pro-independence and very anti-Brexit, so when I get to bring that to drag and entertain other people with that, that for me is really one of the main reasons I enjoy doing drag and enjoy my art."
Lady Rampant, who recently returned to Scotland after studying her masters in European Union law, explained her support for an independent Scotland helps to inspire her performances.
"I just feel like the whole Brexit process has really highlighted a real weakness in the British constitution and the way that Scotland is treated in this sort of asymmetrical devolution settlement. And to me it’s just highlighted even more why I think Scotland should be an independent country, because for instance if you take the way that Ireland is treated in the EU, as a member state, it’s treated on an equal playing field with all the other member state in the EU.
Photograph: Vito Van Haagen
"But if you look at Scotland, in the United Kingdom’s constitution, Scotland is not treated as an equal player and I think that’s been highlighted in the Brexit process, and it’s one of the reasons why I’m so pro-independence.
"I feel there’s a real deficit in the UK’s constitution because of that."
The drag queen, whose name is inspired by the Lion Rampant, says mixing drag and politics can lighten a frustrating political situation.
"It’s not always a very happy subject when you sit down to eat your dinner and come across the news," she said. "But by laughing about it in drag, by bringing it to the art form of entertaining the audience, it brings a little bit of light to the situation. That’s one of the reasons that I do enjoy doing it."
You can keep up with Lady Rampant at her Instagram here.
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