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Drag queens get lippy with anti-gay politicians

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Drag queens get lippy with anti-gay politicians
The video comes complete with a blend of costume changes, dance moves and flirtatious flutterings of fake eyelashes. Screenshot: Mario Mieli Society for Gay Culture/YouTube

Italian drag queens on Thursday released a catchy music video - complete with a plethora of peroxide wigs and red lipstick - to fight back against homophobia emanating from the country's top political circles.

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The three-minute YouTube video (below) sees a troupe of drag queens dancing and singing along to a bubblegum pop version of The Beatles 1965 song, Help! to mark the International Day Against Homophobia on Saturday.

Produced by the Mario Mieli Society for Gay Culture, the video opens with a trio of drag queens getting to grips with the lyrics, before three dancers begin their routine flanked by a pair of statuesque topless men.

The eclectic cast spend the following couple of minutes vying for the camera’s attention with a blend of costume changes, dance moves and flirtatious flutterings of fake eyelashes.

The singsong also comes with a political verse, as drag queens chat about the views of politicians whose faces have been printed onto their t-shirts.

The video was produced by the Mario Mieli Society for Gay Culture.

The release of the video follows a leading Italian politician describing the leader of the Eurovision Song Contest winner, an Austrian drag queen, as “shameful”.

Maurizio Gasparri, the vice-president of the Italian Senate, turned to Twitter earlier this week to express his “disgust” at seeing a man in a dress celebrated across Europe.

READ MORE: Top MP says Eurovision star is 'horrible'

While Gasparri was criticized in some quarters for his homophobic outburst, his view can be seen as a broader reflection of Italian society where gay rights are lagging behind other European nations.

A study released earlier this week saw Italy fall to 32nd place out of 49 countries ranked for their protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and intersex (LGBTI) rights.

READ MORE: Italy lags far behind in Europe on gay rights

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