State Dept. Gives Ecuador $20,600 for Drag Shows
In a head-scratcher grant that epitomizes mission creep, the U.S. State Department awarded $20,600 for a cultural center in Ecuador to host drag theater performances to “promote diversity and inclusion” in the region, Fox News reported.
The project, run by Centro Ecuatoriano Norteamericano, a non-profit organization supported by the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Ecuador, runs September 2022 through August 2023. It includes three workshops, 12 drag theater performances, and a 2-minute documentary, according to the grant.
“The United States and Ecuador share a history of partnership and cooperation, and have mutual interests in economic prosperity, democratic governance, regional security, and academic exchanges,” according to the State Department’s own website. “The protection of American citizens and U.S. interests remains the top mission priority.”
It is unclear how the grant does any of that or how it will further the objective of the State Department’s Public Diplomacy Programs.
The objective is “to support the achievement of U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives, advance national interests, and enhance national security by informing and influencing foreign publics and by expanding and strengthening the relationship between the people and government of the United States and citizens of the rest of the world.”
While the Ecuadorian organization has been generously supported with hundreds of thousands of U.S. taxpayer dollars in recent years, including $234,000 given in 2015 for the building of a new auditorium, the new initiative is the first one funding a drag performance.
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