SHERBROOKE, Quebec (LifeSiteNews) — A Quebec classical music festival has hired a children’s drag queen performer to host the 94th anniversary show.
The Quebec Bands and Symphony Orchestras Festival, a government-funded music festival to take place May 18-21 in Sherbrooke, has announced their decision to hire drag queen performer and elementary school teacher Sebastien Potvin, who goes by the name Barbada de Barbades, as the show’s host.
“The message of authenticity, the message of openness, of diversity that Barbada conveys led us to identify this exceptional artist in the fall to come to certain activities of our federation,” Festival director Claudine Roussel told Radio Canada.
“We were looking at the 1929 photo of the first Festival where there are only men. There was an evolution that took place, and this evolution has brought us to where we are today,” Roussel continued, failing to explain how a man dressing up as a woman adds diversity to the show.
“We must continue (…) because what we do is perfectly in line with Quebec’s values of inclusion, openness and diversity,” asserted Potvin, who has been performing children’s drag queen story hours since 2016.
According to the festival program, Potvin is set to perform two drag queen story hours for young children as well as participate in a workshop and award ceremony. On his website, Potvin says shows are aimed to children ages three to six years old but “younger children are welcome.”
The music festival has received funding from the Quebec government, including a recent $55,500 donation. Other sponsors and partners of the music festival include the City of Sherbrooke, the University of Sherbrooke, Desjardins Bank, and Yamaha Canada.
Controversy surrounding drag queen shows was sparked in Quebec last month after the Quebec National Assembly unanimously voted to adopt a motion from the leftist Quebec Solidaire (QS) party which condemns any type of resistance to drag queen story times.
Surprisingly, this decision was quickly denounced by openly homosexual Eric Duhaime, leader of the provincial Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), who has recently doubled down on criticizing drag queen story times held in public buildings targeting kids.
He recently launched a petition called “Protect Our Children,” which asks the government to stop its funding of drag shows for kids and make sure parental consent is respected. Thus far, the petition has over 40,000 signatures.
Another Quebec-born politician, Maxime Bernier, who leads the federal People’s Party of Canada (PPC), recently blasted the “transgender madness” targeting children across Canada, while also taking the time to point out the Conservative Party of Canada’s silence on the topic.
So–called drag queen story times targeting children taking place in public places, such as libraries, have become more prevalent both in Canada and other western countries.
Instead of backing away from the trend as public backlash grows, certain cities, including Calgary, Alberta, have opted to adopt bylaws banning the protests of such events. LGBT activists also seem to be increasing their hostility toward those who oppose the trend.
Just recently in Calgary, pastor Derek Reimer was charged for protesting a children’s drag queen story hour at a public library. While in jail, he had his van vandalized with anti-Christian and Satanic messages.
In another recent incident during a “Transgender Day of Visibility” rally in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadian father Chris Elston, while peacefully opposing gender ideology, was grabbed by the throat, then thrown to the ground and punched.