A free, all-ages drag show is set to take place at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center in Bethel on July 12, part of a slate of Pride-themed events organized by a group of activists and supported by local organizations, including the publicly funded University of Alaska Fairbanks Kuskokwim Campus. Pride Month, the celebration of LGBTQ+ self absorption, was in June.
The event, called Bethel Pride, was announced in a social media post promoting “a celebration of unapologetic queer joy” and an “all-Indigenous cast” of drag performers. The flyer for the event features Osha Violation, Ice Watah, Lamia DOOM Monroe, and Herda Nuff, with performers traveling in from Fairbanks, their travel and performance fees are paid for by undisclosed donors. Doors for the drag show open at 7 pm, with the show starting at 7:30 pm. The event is advertised as free and “all-ages.”
It’s all-indigenous, the flyer says, but a case can be made that it’s cultural appropriation of western drag art form.
In addition to the evening performance, the day will include a Pride sign-making workshop at 10 am, followed by a Pride march to Lion’s Club Park at noon.
The flyer thanks several organizations for enabling the event, including Troy Michael of the Mr. Gay World organization, the Kuskokwim Consortium Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks Kuskokwim Campus, the Bethel Actors Guild, Teens Acting Against Violence, and the Tundra Women’s Coalition, which is publicly funded by the Alaska Legislature.
The University of Alaska system, including its Kuskokwim campus, receives significant public funding from state and federal sources. While the flyer stops short of identifying a primary funder, its inclusion of the university among key supporters raises questions among some residents in Western Alaska about whether public dollars are being used to support a drag show marketed to all ages.
The event is being promoted primarily through social media.
