'As a female drag queen, I had to fight for work'

Kirsty Minchella-Storer - also known as Mama Tasty - said she was "shunned" by parts of the drag community

A female drag queen who is performing at Warwickshire Pride has said she felt she had to fight to be accepted in the scene as a woman because drag artists are more often male.

Kirsty Minchella-Storer - also known as Mama Tasty - said she was "shunned" by parts of the drag community when she first started out in 2022, but was now well-known in the industry.

The performer described herself as a "different" act in the scene, which is dominated by people posing as the opposite gender.

Ms Minchella-Storer said she hoped female performers would become increasingly accepted as more broke into the scene.

"I have a very mixed feeling about how my career started," she said.

"I felt the community was incredibly cliquey and shunned me - for want of a better word - so I had to create my own work.

"Actually, because I wasn't taken in and because I wasn't given any jobs, I went out and I made a name for myself."

Mama Tasty is headlining Warwickshire Pride on Saturday

Mama Tasty, from Warwickshire, is now a well known name in drag circles in the Midlands.

The "bold and vibrant" character will perform at Warwickshire Pride, at The Pump Room Garden in Leamington Spa on Saturday.

"For me, it's an art form - it's a form of expression," Ms Minchella-Storer said.

"Drag Queens - what is their blueprint? It is a woman - so people turn and say to me, you're a woman, you can't be a drag queen.

"But, look at the blueprint, are you telling me I can't play a more extravagant female?"

Ms Minchella-Storer - who is also a trained lorry driver - said she hoped that acts like herself would continue to push their way into the drag scene.

"I think people like myself and other [female] queens need to keep fighting and I think other venues need to be much more open to it.

"Open not only to booking other queens, but [female] performers, open to the whole shaboo of cabaret."