A talented young drag artist has described how a group of older men subjected him and two friends to a terrifying “torrent of homophobic abuse” in Dundee city centre.
Elliot Glen, from Broughty Ferry, and his friends were leaving Church in Ward Road after their weekly drag show when they were targeted.
The 19-year-old has become something of a drag celebrity in Dundee since he turned professional in September and said nothing like this had ever happened to him before.
Elliot, whose professional name is Ellie Diamond, said: “Leaving Church after the show, myself and two other drag artists passed a pub with a group of six or seven drunk older guys standing outside it.
“The two others I was with were in drag without wigs and I was wearing boy clothes with full make-up on.
“The older guys then tried to stop us while we were walking past and stood around us and shouted homophobic abuse.
“We told them to leave us alone and just let us go but they were persistent and getting uncomfortably close to me. They started to become physical by grabbing the arm of one of my friends.
“We started walking back when the man grabbed a bag full of styled wigs and swung it about, being very aggressive and shouting at us again.
“We got back to our car and called the police.
“One of the men started to chase after us. The men were really drunk and we had no desire to engage with them in case it made the situation worse.
“Fortunately none of us were hurt or injured in the incident but it shouldn’t have happened at all.”
Elliot said it was ‘‘scary’’ and he was very upset by the homophobic nature of the abuse.
“I have never experienced that in my life so it was very scary and I was worried about my friends,” he added.
‘‘Something has to be done about this. I will not just let this happen to performers leaving or going to work.’’
Elliot said the drag scene in Dundee was becoming more popular.
He and his friends perform at Bingo Wigs at Church once a week.
“The show is very popular and since we started we have gained a lot of support and followers,” he added.
A Police Scotland spokesman said a report had been received about hate crime comments being made towards a group in Ward Road at around 1.30am on Tuesday.
He added that officers wanted to speak to a group of men in connection with the matter and anyone who witnessed the incident should contact the police on 101.
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