The latest among a growing number of drag queen summer camps for kids has been announced at a youth theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The camp is for children aged 13 to 18.
“Do you love the idea of being a Drag King, Drag Queen, or Drag Thing but don’t know where to start?” the program
description reads. “Explore the fun of drag through this week-long introduction to the art form. You will create or refine a drag persona using make up, wigs, and costumes, and then create a lip sync number to debut at the end of the week!”
Government Support
The Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP), which is hosting the camp, receives funding from all levels of government.
It received about $830,000 from the Government of Canada for 2021 and 2022 combined, another $513,000 from the
Canada Council for the Arts, and a recent
grant of about $1.3 million from the Manitoba government. It also lists the City of Winnipeg as one of its government partners.
Publicly funded drag events for children have received criticism in recent months.
Similar drag camps to be hosted in Vancouver this summer by the government-funded Carousel Theatre are for children aged 7 to 17 (held in two separate cohorts for younger children and older children).
“This is utterly disgusting. Camps indoctrinating kids as young as 7 with gender ideology and sexual confusion are now being promoted and subsidized by all government levels,”
said Maxime Bernier, Peoples’ Party of Canada leader, in a March 31 tweet.
An
all-ages drag show hosted by Bingemans recreation centre in Kitchener, Ontario, on Dec. 1, 2022, was funded in part by the Ontario government.
“Why is [Premier Doug Ford] using taxpayer dollars to pay adult men dressed as women to ‘perform’ for children? Drag shows – by their nature – are not for ‘all ages,’” MPP Belinda Karahalios
said on Twitter ahead of that event, on Nov. 30.
The Epoch Times asked the Manitoba Theatre, the Manitoba government, and the Canada Council for the Arts how they respond to criticisms that drag events are not suitable for children, but did not receive a reply as of publication.
Canada’s Heritage Ministry
told The Epoch Times in an April 11 email that it supports the drag camp for children being held in Vancouver.
“The Department of Canadian Heritage is committed to advancing inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. We support inclusive and equitable artistic and cultural experiences for all ages and backgrounds, such as those offered by the Carousel Theatre for Young People,” the ministry said.
“The Government of Canada values 2SLGBTQI+ rights as human rights and upholds the values of diversity and inclusion as key to building a better and more prosperous Canada for everyone.”
Other children’s drag camps include one in Seattle, to be hosted this summer at the
Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle for children aged 12 to 18.
Another was hosted in 2019 by the Havana Theatre in Vancouver, for all ages.
All of the events include the children dressing in drag and creating their own drag personas.
“You’ll choose your name, explore hair and makeup techniques, and develop your character’s stage presence,” says the description for the Seattle event.
Children at the Carousel Theatre event will be given “drag makeup starter kits” and learn to find their “alter ego.”
“You might be wondering, is drag for kids?” says the theatre’s
website. “Drag is for everyone!”
Drag queen story times for children have met with protests nationwide. Calgary city council passed a
bylaw in March aimed at quelling the protests around libraries.
