Zander Murray, Scotland’s first openly gay senior male footballer, has been transformed into a drag queen by one of the country’s rising stars, Cherry West.
In pictures shared exclusively with GAY TIMES, Murray can be seen being put into full drag by West, ultimately becoming his new alter-ego Miss De Ball.
The duo documented the process in a video for West’s YouTube channel, which sees them discuss everything from the moment that inspired Murray to come out publicly, as well as what he plans to do after his upcoming retirement.
“I just think it was incredible and empowering,” Murray said of the experience. “It’s femininity, my feminine side. My less masculine side is something I’ve kept away for 16 years of my life, so it was invigorating to just be my authentic self and drag is something I’ve loved for so long.”
West, who is just 17-years-old but has already been doing drag for almost three years, said it meant a lot to her to work with Murray on the project as she used to love sport before feeling disconnected from it after coming to terms with her sexuality.
“When I realised I was gay, I felt like I couldn’t exist within the world of sport, and even less so when I became a drag queen,” she told GAY TIMES.
“So many stereotypes would have made it hard to feel welcome. But since getting to know Zander, a very talented footballer who also happens to be gay, it really feels possible that the gay community and the sporting community can exist together rather than gay people being sidelined.
“Already, following the success of his documentary, we are beginning to see positive changes and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with Zander on more projects so we can continue to close the gap and tackle discrimination head on.”
You can see pictures from the process below and the video is now streaming here.
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