A Parent Goes “Undercover” to Show How “Traumatizing” Drag Performances Are to Kids

In midst of all the crappy drag bans and conversations around drag performances negatively impacting kids, one parent went “undercover” to see what all the fuss was about. 

Tianna Bastien, one of the co-founders of the Canadian artisanal jewelry business The Curated Lobe (@TheCuratedLobe), went “incognito” with two kids to a drag brunch and documented the experience on TikTok. Sounds horrible so far, right?

“With all the controversy surrounding children and drag queens these days, I thought I would go undercover and take our girls to a drag show and see what kind of horrible trauma they endure,” said Bastien in a voiceover for the TikTok video.

And let’s talk about all of the trauma this crew endured. The video shows Bastien and two children dressing the part, complete with cute makeup, sparkly attire, and bills to give to the drag queens. 

Bastien narrates throughout the video on how good the drag queens look, how they placed glitter on the childrens’ faces, and had them do a dance competition to the tunes of “Baby Shark” in the restaurant. Ultimately, the little ones give dollars and flowers to the queens, who look beyond appreciative. 

But remember, this was a traumatic experience for everyone involved, and Bastien wanted the masses to know about it. Thankfully, that TikTok video was completely satirical and a very campy way for The Curated Lobe co-founder to highlight how much of a great (and not traumatic) time the children she brought with her had. 

“I didn’t set out to capture the videos for the voiceover that I ended up using, I was just capturing the awesome, wholesome moments the girls were experiencing,” said Bastien for blogTO. “But after seeing all that, in light of all the negative media these days surrounding the drag community I wanted to highlight the wonderful time the girls had while also showing how ridiculous all the haters sound.”

Drag, an art form that has been a medium for self expression for many within the LGBTQ+, is under political fire. Tennessee governor, Bill Lee, signed a new law on March 2 that bans drag performances in front of minors. According to the ACLU, the GOP-controlled state plans to move forward with 26 anti-LGBTQ+ pieces of legislation. States like Idaho, Kentucky, North Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, and Utah are looking to follow suit. 

And while Bastien is located in “The Great White North”, with drag queen greats like Priyanka and Brooke Lynn Hytes, this type of support worldwide helps to make the world a better place for drag performers and the LGBTQ+ community. 

“[The drag queens] really made everyone, including the kids at the show, feel special,” added Bastien. “Kids should learn to be loving and accepting of all, and this helped them along that path.”

We couldn’t agree more.