When farmer Dean Goodwin-Evans moved to rural Herefordshire during lockdown, he soon found there was no evident drag scene. But after a busy day of tending his animals, Dean likes to put his wig on and let his hair down as Boo La Croux. So he set up one himself.
The UK’s only known drag farmer is a busy man. He regularly runs drag-themed bingo, karaoke and disco nights at his local village hall, organises events on the Pride scene and performs around the country as Miss Drag UK 2021.
Dean, 38, was instrumental in setting up Hereford Pride, hosted Hay Pride last month and has made himself a name as the ‘Queen with No Scene’. His life has now been documented in a series of images by award-winning photographer Billie Charity, on display at Shepherds Parlour, Hay-on-Wye until mid-July.
Billie says: ‘I first encountered Boo La Croux at Hay Pride, where I was doing the photography. When I found out that Boo was actually the creation of a local farmer called Dean, I really wanted to find out more. He’s my dream photo subject, combining rural life with glamour.’
Dean says: ‘Drag is just secrets and lies. When you get down underneath all the layers, I am a man and I smell like a man. I wear perfume, but I do wear male deodorant. And the tights do need a wash as they do get smelly. I didn’t even realise I had to wash bras until a few years after I had been wearing one.’ (Picture: Billie Charity)
 Dean will wear an eye-watering eight to ten pairs of tights as part of his costume. Many layers are needed to contour the jagged edges of the foam inserts that make his legs more womanly. Dean doesn’t wear his outfits around the farm, but he may wear a bit of toned-down blusher and concealer. (Picture: Billie Charity)
Dean trained as a hairstylist, but didn’t become involved in drag until started watching early USA seasons of Ru Paul’s Drag Race when he was 30. He now sews his own outfits and styles his own wigs. (Picture: Billie Charity)
Dean says: ‘I started experimenting in private in the bedroom and it progressed. After a year I had the confidence to come out as a drag queen and started going to events and conventions. It just felt right. It’s such an expression of my femininity and my creative side.’ (Picture: Billie Charity)
Dean has kept animals since he was a child. He describes his pigs and horses as his first love, while drag as his second. He says; ‘I’m known as the farmer drag queen. Sometimes I may be getting ready for an event on the farm and I can hear a big commotion or an animal has broken free so I have to go out in my costume and sort out the animals.’ (Picture: Billie Charity)
Dean lives ten minutes between Hay, which has a thriving gay scene, and Hereford, a town he describes as more backward. As a director of Hereford Pride, Dean tries to promote more diversity in communities. Hereford locals find it difficult to understand what drag is he says, and he is often met with shock if he nips into the local Co-Op in his costume. (Picture: Billie Charity)
It can be tough work combining worlds of farming and drag. Dean says: ‘My body is so used to getting up at a certain time, I just have to do it. So even if I have been out ’til four of five in the morning, I will still get up at seven. There are times when I’ve come back from a very late gig and I just water and hay the animals and then go back to bed.’(Picture: Billie Charity)
Boo pictured with Kevin from Hay and Brecon Farmers. When Dean first moved to Hereford, he remembers asking: ‘Oh my God – what have I done? There was no gay scene, no gay pubs, no services. It was really difficult. So I’ve had to create that. But finding Hay pride and working with them has made me want to stay. Without them I would have moved back to Leicester where I was from.’ (Picture: Billie Charity)
Dean’s work with Pride is personally important to him as the LGBTQI+ community supported him when his father, who has since passed away, kicked him out of home at the age of 16 when he came out as gay. They made up soon after and his dad became his biggest supporter. (Picture: Billie Charity)
Dean says: ‘I strive for anything that’s creative, so this photography project has been really elevating. Billie makes it so easy to be photographed. She fills you with confidence and makes you feel amazing, and most of all makes the shoots enjoyable. It’s been so much fun to work together.’ (Picture: Billie Charity)
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