Carousel Theatre For Young People has announced their ‘Drag Queen Summer Camps‘ for ages 7 to 17. Community members, who are concerned about protecting the innocence of our children, youth and minors are speaking out against the planned summer camp.
PROTECT CHILDHOOD INNOCENCE SIGN PETITION TO STOP THIS NOW!
CALL TO ACTION
Here are the email addresses of the people who are responsible for this event. Email them! Let them know why your child or grandchild WILL NOT be attending inappropriate camps for our kids, youth and minors.
Pay upwards of $460 !?
Trudeau govt. ‘sponsoring’ Drag Summer Camp for children 7 to 11 years old: report
Email addresses:
Carousel Theatre Main
info@carouseltheatre.ca
604.685.6217
dave@carouseltheatre.ca
jennica@carouseltheatre.ca
outreach@carouseltheatre.ca
education@carouseltheatre.ca
board@carouseltheatre.ca
1411 Cartwright St
Vancouver, BC V6H 3R7
Board of Directors
Stephen Robertson, President, Board of Directors
Sarah Hudson, Secretary, Board of Directors
Kathie Schwaia, Treasurer, Board of Directors
Susan Shank, Board Member
Fila Testini, Board Member
Roger Watts, Board Member
Vancouver City
Ken.Sim@vancouver.ca
CLRbligh@vancouver.ca
CLRboyle@vancouver.ca
CLRcarr@vancouver.ca
CLRdominato@vancouver.ca
CLRfry@vancouver.ca
CLRkirby-yung@vancouver.ca
CLRklassen@vancouver.ca
CLRmeiszner@vancouver.ca
CLRmontague@vancouver.ca
CLRzhou@vancouver.ca
Here is an online form to send message to Mayor and Council:
http://vancouver.ca/your-government/contact-council.aspx
The people:
ASH SHOTTON TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
they/them
MITCH JANZEN GUEST SERVICES TEAM
he/him
JESSICA WONG GUEST SERVICES TEAM
she/her
DAVE DEVEAU Co-Artistic & Managing Director
he/him dave@carouseltheatre.ca
JENNICA GRIENKE Co-Artistic & Managing Director
jennica@carouseltheatre.ca
LISA GEMINO Production & Facilities Manager
she/her
SHEA HEATHERINGTON Education Coordinator
she/her
JOANNA & EWA BORKOWSKA Accountants
she/her, she/her
TANJA DIXON-WARREN Transition Advisor
she/her
Vancouver kids theatre cuts ties with artistic director after bullying, harassment allegations
More than 60 ex-staff and contract workers from Carousel Theatre pen letters detailing toxic work environment.
A Vancouver theatre company specializing in productions for children has cut ties with its artistic director and is promising other changes following allegations of a toxic work environment by dozens of former staff and crew.
More than sixty people wrote letters calling out the Carousel Theatre for Young People — a popular theatre group known for its productions of Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh — for being an abusive place to work, characterized by a culture of bullying and harassment perpetuated by some of its leaders.
Facing backlash on social media and an online petition calling for improved working conditions, the company says it “mutually agreed to part ways” with its artistic director Carole Higgins. It’s also pledged to restructure its leadership team.
“We will be working to rebuild a theatre that is inclusive, creates opportunity, and provides a safe place for everyone,” said the company in an official statement posted to its website.
Carousel’s productions are geared toward young children to help develop emotional literacy.
Toxic work environment
Workers began publicly voicing their experiences at the theatre company after Carousel issued a statement speaking out against racism and oppression amid the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement.
In a public Facebook post, BIPOC actor Kaitlyn Yott detailed her experience on a production of Peter Pan where she says she was pressured into performing stunts and ignored when she would voice concerns over her safety. She said her requests to bring in a stunt director were denied.
“…I ended up severely injured in both of my knees halfway through the run. I was barely able to walk and I was in excruciating amounts of pain,” she wrote.
Since then, a petition calling on the company to improve its working conditions and leadership has generated more than 400 signatures.
Former Carousel contract workers Dani Fecko and Kayla Dunbar have been urging ex-staff and contractors who were bullied or harassed to speak out.
More than 60 people have written letters to Carousel’s board detailing negative experiences at the company, Fecko said.
“We would be used against each other,” said Fecko. “Inevitably, in every production, there would be one staff member or one artist that was the scapegoat for everything, and would be pulled out and bullied. There was a lot of bad mouthing of each other to each other behind closed doors. There was a lot of manipulation.”
Fecko says many contract workers were afraid to voice their concerns to management out of fear of not being hired back.
“I always knew that was happening, I just never knew how bad it was,” she added.
Calling for change
Dunbar and Fecko say they aren’t satisfied with Carousel’s statement, noting that there is no specific apology within it.
“There’s still a lot of work to do and it is very frustrating that there hasn’t been accountability taken by the board, or by Carole,” said Dunbar. “The public hasn’t been told how [Carousel] is moving forward.”
The pair are scheduled to meet with the Carousel board president on Wednesday to discuss how to create a more inclusive work environment. They’re are calling for the theatre to provide a healing space for those who have endured bullying.
“That means bringing in facilitators and mental health support for people to come and heal and get used to being in that space again in a safe way,” said Fecko.
Fecko says the organization remains a cornerstone for Vancouver’s artistic community, and plays a crucial role getting young children acquainted with theatre. The pair are also calling for a committee of artists and industry leaders to guide the theatre going forward.
“We want that work to keep going … it’s a vital piece of this community,” she said.
CBC News tried to contact artistic director Carole Higgins on Sunday, but has yet to hear back from her.
Jon Hernandez · CBC News · Posted: Jul 13, 2020 5:00 AM MDT | Last Updated: July 13, 2020
Trudeau govt. ‘sponsoring’ Drag Summer Camp for children 7 to 11 years old: report
Residents of Vancouver now have a Justin Trudeau-approved, taxpayer-funded summer alternative for their little kiddies: a drag queen summer camp at the Carousel Theatre for Young People.
Children age 7 to 11 and teens age 12 to 17 will get a free drag makeup starter kit for their folks’ $460 and $900 “tuitions,” respectively.
“Led by some of Vancouver’s established and emerging drag artists, you’ll learn how to access your inner confidence, show your true colours, and maybe even let out that inner diva!” the website states. “Join some of Vancouver’s most amazing drag artists and learn how drag can brighten up your life!”
Scroll to the bottom of the page, and you’ll discover the theater is supported by the City of Vancouver, the Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia, and the British Columbia Arts Council.
“According to Government of Canada grant data, Carousel Theatre received federal funding to the tune of $280,849 since 2018,” True North reports.
And if you’re thinking that sending minors off to be groomed by drag queens isn’t such a great idea, why, you’re just denying your closet Queen, “honey.”
“You might be wondering, is drag for kids?” the website concedes. “Drag is for everyone! Parents, ask yourself, what’s the difference between what you wear at home versus what you wear at work? You’re doing drag honey, you just don’t know it!”
As in America, Canada is flaunting drag queens in the faces of its youth.
Who can forget the shop teacher with the enormous fake bazoombas?
And in Canada, they are preventing people from even protesting the drag queen story hours.
“Recently, Calgary’s City Council voted for a bylaw which limited drag queen protests around public spaces,” according to True North. “The bylaw prohibits ‘specific protests’ from taking place within 100 metres of an entrance to a city operated or other designated facility such as a library.”
But what would else would you expect when the Prime Minister of the nation celebrates International Women’s Day by mansplaining the very definition of a woman?
“I want to be very clear about one more thing,” he tweeted earlier this month. “Trans women are women.”
Thank God we live in America, am I right?
Oh, wait…
“Stop paying your taxes people,” responded one user on Twitter to news of the drag queen summer camp.
“Parents that send their children here should be arrested for Child Abuse,” tweeted another.
Canada’s priorities are warped, another user suggested.
“Meanwhile domestic abuse shelters are close to closing because of under funding,” the user wrote. “Imagine. The insulting irony of this country.”
Even liberal HBO host Bill Maher can’t believe how pervasive and inappropriate the drag queen push has become in America’s schools.
Thankfully, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R-Va.) was on hand to set him straight.
On Friday’s episode of “Real Time,” Sears referred to a video posted by Libs of TikTok in which a drag queen is seen giving a young student a lap dance.
While the comedian acknowledged that drag queens are reading to kids, he refused to believe they’d go that far.
“I’m not sure about lap dances,” Maher smirked.
“Bill, you gotta read more,” Sears stated.
As one user commented in reference to Canada’s summer camp, the drag queen push is “Starting to remind me of a Cult.”
Drag queens don’t belong in the classroom (feat. Eric Duhaime)
Drag queen story hours for young children have become popular in LGBTQ and progressive circles, but many Canadians do not support the activity taking place in public schools, daycares and libraries.
This is especially the case in Quebec, where Conservative Party of Quebec leader Eric Duhaime, who is openly-gay, has come out against drag queen story hours. Several Quebec media figures, including columnists and radio hosts, have also since come out against the activity.
The discourse in Quebec on the issue differs from the rest of Canada, where the radical left and the legacy media have labeled anyone who opposes drag shows for kids as homophobic and transphobic.
True North’s Elie Cantin-Nantel spoke with Duhaime about why he opposes drag shows for kids being held in public schools, daycares and libraries.
Shared from https://rumble.com/v2ng2a0-drag-queens-dont-belong-in-the-classroom-feat.-eric-duhaime.html
Drag summer camp for kids? Get the government funding out of here!
http://StopClassroomGrooming.com | Sign our petition and email your education minister!
David Menzies and Drea Humphrey discuss a B.C. drag summer camp for kids as young as seven years old. In case that wasn’t enough, this camp is also receiving funding from multiple levels of government.
Vancouver police receive ZERO threats of violence towards drag camp for kids, despite union’s claims
For a price of $460 to $900, children aged 7-14 received their very own drag make-up starter kit and were instructed by drag queens on how to access their ‘inner confidence’ and show their ‘true colours’ for four consecutive days.
Recent legacy media reports covering protests outside a drag summer camp for kids on Granville Island last week have echoed the unsupported claim that some opposed to the camp threatened to act out in violence. But is there any merit to such claims?
Between July 4-7, Carousel Theatre, a company that receives federal, provincial, and municipal funds, hosted a drag camp for children aged 7-14.
For a price of $460 to $900, children received their very own drag make-up starter kit and were instructed by drag queens on how to access their “inner confidence” and show their “true colours” for four consecutive days.
“Parents, ask yourself, what’s the difference between what you wear at home versus what you wear at work? You’re doing drag, honey, you just don’t know it!” reads a message from the theatre to parents who may have been considering sending their kids to the drag camp.
Unsurprisingly, a group of concerned citizens, opposed to the state-supported theatre’s cross-dressing kids camp, prepared to peacefully protest against it. Similar protests have been occurring more frequently across the country.
What is unusual, however, is the allegation made by IATSE Local 118, the theatre’s union, that some opponents of the event threatened violence against the theatre’s staff.
In a statement calling for defenders of the drag camp for kids to counter-protest against “those who would do harm” to the theatre’s community, the union claimed that their members were at risk due to threats of physical and structural violence.
Yet, when I contacted the Vancouver Police Department to inquire whether they had been informed of any such threats, I was informed that while the department was aware of a planned protest, they had received no reports of threats directly related to the drag summer camp for kids.
This didn’t deter state-choice media outlets from publishing the union’s allegations without questioning them, as seen in a CBC article titled “Supporters of drag camp for kids rally outside Vancouver theatre after reports of threats against staff.”
The media also did not report on how peaceful the small group of protesters who gathered in front of the theatre and City Hall to oppose the camp were, in contrast to the rainbow-clad drag defenders.
Fortunately, I had my boots on the ground to bring you the other side to this story and I had two bodyguards ensuring my safety while I did.
Watch the full video report to witness the intolerance displayed by those who answered IATSE 118’s call to counter-protest against the small but diverse group of protesters who peacefully opposed the summer camp.
Upon approaching the theatre, I was immediately harassed by an umbrella-wielding rainbow-clad mob. Thankfully, Rebel News had hired bodyguards to accompany me and the Vancouver Police Department formed a barrier between myself and those screaming profanities at me.
Unfortunately, in previous reports, some police have failed to ensure our safety while practicing journalism and have even resorted to physical force against us at times.
If you appreciate the reports brought to you by Rebel News, please consider visiting JournalistDefenceFund.com to donate whatever you can to cover our security costs while we work in the field.
Shared from https://www.rebelnews.com/vancouver_drag_camp_kids_threats_violence_iatse_union_carousel_theatre