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15th Apr 2016

Irish drag queen tops Vladimir Putin in TIME 100 influential people poll

Conor Heneghan

This must be a drag for Vladimir Putin.

He’s been beaten by an Irish campaigner and drag queen in a poll by TIME Magazine of the 100 most influential people of 2016.

As they do every year, TIME asked readers to vote for the people they deemed most influential in the world in 2016.

TIME editors will eventually determine the ultimate honourees when the TIME 100 list is officially announced next week (April 21, to be exact).

With voting having closed just before midnight on Wednesday, the name of Panti Bliss, aka Rory O’Neill, stands out amongst some of the most well-known and influential people in the world.

Panti commanded 1 per cent of the vote, the same percentage as the likes of Hilary Clinton, Serena Williams, Apple CEO Tim Cook and US Vice President Joe Biden, ranking just below Jennifer Lawrence and Beyoncé, and just above Rihanna, Usain Bolt – and Vladimir Putin, who is at 44th.

timepoll

Panti played a massive role in the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage in Ireland last year, and starred in the documentary, The Queen of Ireland, which was released to rave reviews last October.

Hard luck, eh Vlad?

vlll

(image via Putin A Rainbow)