Conchita Wurst: Some people think I’m a trans woman
Conchita Wurst. (PinkNews)
Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst has spoken about people assuming that she is a trans woman, but says she is “very strict about the difference”.
In an interview with the Guardian, Wurst, who will this year act as a host for Eurovision after winning the competition for Austria in 2014, also said she would often wear a skirt to kindergarten when she was a child.
On being confused with a trans woman, Wurst said “I am happy being a man in a dress.”
She went on to say: “Iām strict about the difference. What I do is performance, itās staged, itās glamour ā itās not real life. But for trans people, being born in the wrong body ā thereās nothing glamorous or easy about that.”
On wearing a skirt to schoo, Wurst said: “I was actually a very confident little kid. I would go to kindergarten in a skirt. I donāt remember how the other children reacted. My mum says she would wait around after dropping me off because she expected everyone would laugh, but I never came back out.”
“I donāt fulfil the assumptions made of a mainstream drag queen. People say theyāre confused by how calm and quiet I am. When I created Conchita I thought there were expectations of me and I was very loud, and I had this bitchiness that some drag artists have, which I think is hilarious, but it wasnāt me. I realised itās fine to be another type of drag queen,” she continued.
She previously said being bullied at school for wearing a dress was āvery tough for meā.
Conchita has become a champion for LGBT rights since winning Eurovision last year ā performing at both the United Nations and European Parliament.
At the 60th anniversary Eurovision show she also took to the stage alongside Israeli star Dana International ā the first transgender woman to win Eurovision.
The pair performed a cover of ABBAās hit āWaterlooā holding hands, as part of a medley of Eurovision songs.
The 60th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Vienna, on May 23.
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