U.K. town cheers
male carnival queen

Gay 15-year old David Bridge donned a tiara and full drag to headline as a town carnival queen over the weekend in Axbridge, England. Thousands of locals lined the street to cheer Bridge, who beat three girls for the title, according to London's Daily Mirror.

"Some people said they were going to throw eggs at me on the parade, but, thankfully, it never happened," Bridge said. "I was very nervous to begin with but I really enjoyed the day."

A few months back, Bridge auditioned for the carnival committee in drag. The committee was so impressed with his talent that, despite misgivings, it offered him the title of "Blackberry Queen."

"We had to decide which would offend people least--including David," said carnival chairman Robin Goodfellow. "It was felt we couldn't eliminate him just because he was male."

Belinda Swansbury, Bridge's caregiver, described him as "an extrovert" and said his family is very supportive.

"He has already experienced discrimination because he is a young gay teenager," Swansbury said. "We told him about the consequences of the attention because it's a controversial matter. But he was mature enough to make a decision, and he chose to go for it." (Hassan Mirza, Gay.com/U.K.)