I thought you might want to hear from the mother herself again (I expect it’s much better that putting my son out here to receive your spite or opinion). You are right, in fact we know a lovely lady who dresses in drag. It’s not necessarily about sexuality, tho our son recognises himself as gay. It’s about celebrities using a platform to support others no matter what your sexuality & showing that sexuality isn’t contagious, it’s NOT defined by what people wear or how they look. Its about breaking down barriers, the very barriers you are creating. A lot of drag performances are about lip syncing as your favourite artist, and many drag artists wear makeup and outfits because they enjoy the way it feels, many feel empowered. You may have met a drag artist that told you different which is fair enough, but being too quick to judge & stereotype anyone without the full facts or knowing anything about how my message of thanks relates to my family seems very unkind, unjust and unnecessary. There are many topics around the world I have not learnt or educated myself about, mainly due to the complexities of time, or simply that they just haven’t crossed my path, so I do understand your position, however it is very much like Chinese whispers, and seems far more appropriate to take the time understand the facts before you apply critical or negative assumptions. I think that it’s obvious that any pornographic performance would not be appropriate for any child, and let’s be precise, that’s not what I thanked Ant & Dec for. No one actively encourages their child’s sexuality (another ludicrous comment). Our son doesn’t like football, nor enjoys spending his time with the boys doing testosterone driven activities and it was the other children in primary school that began questioning his sexuality. You can bury heads in the sand, or think it won’t happen to you, cover the real world over, or hide difficult matters away or ones that make you uncomfortable, but there is a limit to who your child chooses to be, and a limit to outside influences you can control, it doesn’t make anyone less of a parent. Many of the children in school ridicule each other for being gay, there are many games or notes that go around claiming someone is gay, if they don’t copy a behaviour then their gay, or maybe someone tries a new hairstyle, or they choose an unexpected colour, they walk or talk differently, and many of the comments he has received over time are quotes from the bullies parents. Many of the girls have wanted to be his girlfriend, as a lot of ‘role play’ occurs in early childhood, but over time he seemed to be announcing he had a new girlfriend until one day he told us he would only say yes because he didn’t want to hurt their feelings. He enjoyed being in the company of girls and related to them much easier than boys, there’s not much taught to children about recognises friends as girls, or boys. It’s quite obvious that our natural reaction as parents is to encourage any child to make the most of the vast array of opportunities they have to learn and discover in school and delay big decisions until we think their old enough, but perhaps you should consider this.. if your child (in their own time - obviously another ludicrous suggestion), wanted to buy and wear clothes, or wear makeup that made them feel good, would you give them that freedom of who they want to be, or would you dig your heels in and demand they wear what you think looks good. I would much rather feel confident that my son has no fear of talking to me or sharing his thoughts and feelings. I don’t think any reasonable parent would encourage or allow any child to dress in crop tops, makeup or heels at work, school, college, male or female, just as we tend to dress differently if we’re off to work, going out for a meal, or simply cleaning at home. Mumsnet began as a form of mums sharing stories, inspiring each other, helping one another, a platform to come together, regardless of experiences, status, age, discrimination, but it seems your more content to whisk up toxicity, aggression and outright nastiness it’s disappointing and not what this platform is designed for.