Outrage as kids aged just eight attend overnight 'Art of Drag' camp

A prominent youth theater group is hosting its first-ever weekend camp in the mountains of Northern – where kids as young as eight stayed overnight to learn about the ‘Art of Drag’.

The three-day, two-night AI Workshop was organized by The Young Actors’ Theatre Camp, and was billed as a safe place for campers to ‘create their own drag personas.’

A recent, unspecified donation to the Santa Cruz theater group has also allowed them to offer a ‘Pay What You Can’ price point this weekend – meaning as many who want to attend the ‘very special weekend camp’ could have done so for free. 

Announced last week, the camp’s inaugural outing started on Friday, March 31, and saw students learn drag history, participate in character workshops, and come up with performance ideas for a final show in front of friends and family.

But like a slew of other drag events taking place across the country, the event has proved polarizing, and is already drawing backlash online.

‘Parents that take their kids to this should be arrested,’ one Twitter user tweeted Sunday, as artwork advertising the workshop as ‘a drag class for kids!’ continues to circulate on several platforms. 

Another called the concept ‘disturbing,’ and demanded that adults ‘keep kids out of [drag shows]’ 

Others expressed a more open mind about the drag being a part of theater as a whole, but decried the idea of it being taught to kids so young.

‘I have no problem with drag shows,’ one user wrote.

‘I grew up in Vegas and there are a few femal [sic] impersonator shows that are great.

‘Just keep the kids out of it.You wouldn’t take them to a burlesque show or strip club either. While I’m at it kid beauty pagents[sic] aren’t good either.’

‘It comes down to peer group,’ another reasoned.

‘Pageants are a competition among peers.Drag shows are preformed by overly sexualized adults for adults. Kids do not belong in that environment.’ 

Undeterred by the backlash, however, is the event’s organizer, Shawn Ryan, who says he has tapped stars from shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race, Parks and Recreation, and American Horror story to take part in the billed festivities. 

‘We have always been inclusive and always taught our kids that love is love,’ camp creator Ryan told a local LGBTQ outlet this week of the planned procession, which is open to anyone aged 8 to 18. 

Slamming recent legislation passed in states like Florida barring such events as ‘transphobic’,  Ryan, a gay man who started the group way back in 2021, further explained how he and other faculty plan to ‘educate’ youngsters during their stay.   

‘Through the last 22 years [of the camp’s history] this is not the first movement of homophobic or transphobic legislation we’ve seen,’ Ryan told the Bay Area Reporter. 

‘But as camp directors we find this is what we can do for the future.The children literally are the future. The more kids see that expression and creativity, and however you present on the spectrum should be welcomed in this world, the better.’ 

As to why it took him more than two decades to dream up the concept, the thespian, speaking to online theater publication Broadway World, pointed to similar ‘drag nights’ that his group has already been doing for years, during which adult actors engage in such pageantry in front of young kids.

Citing a complaint he received from a parent back when that practice began, Ryan said that he has felt incensed since to start an entire overnight session devoted solely to drag. 

‘About a decade ago, when we first started our Drag Night at camp, we had one parent who wrote a very hate filled Yelp review and it really got under my skin,’ he recalled to the outlet, remembering how the man had an issue not with the nights’ subject matter, but the young audience it was being imparted on.

‘In the review he stated, “I’m fine with it for skits and plays… I mean I loved Mrs. Doubtfire… but teaching (the art of drag) to kids?” My blood really boiled.’

The self-appointed counselor went on to equate high-profile examples of A-listers donning drag costumes on the silver screen, to youngsters learning how to the same from an all-male faculty.

‘Why is it admirable when Robin Williams does it – and flawlessly I might add – but all of a sudden it’s off the table when your child might want to put on a costume that has been previously known for the opposite gender?’ Ryan wrote in a statement.

In his statement to the Reporter, the camp’s creator further insisted the the modern concept of drag dates all the way back to the days of William Shakespeare, when female parts were played by male actors.

Films such as 1982’s Tootsie – featuring a drag-induced Dustin Hoffman – and 1996’s The Bird Cage, Ryan says, serves as proof that the ‘art form’ is as alive as ever today, and should thus be imparted on young, aspiring actors. 

Further citing the increasing popularity of the well-known drag reality stars and shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race’ – whose star Nina West is one of the camp’s featured faculty – he added that drag is no less a part of theater than melodramas or musicals.

In regard to the recent rash of transgender bills making their way through state legislation, Ryan said that current discourse swirling around transgender teachings provides more evidence that there is not better time to introduce such a program.

‘We’re known as the place for all the Drama-tweens and Drama-teens to come each summer,’ he explained.

‘By creating a safe and supportive environment where anyone can express themselves without limits and without fear, in a supportive peer group – that’s what’s special.

‘And it’s something that many kids have said is missing from their daily school lives.’

 He added: ‘Inspiring kids to express themselves through the performing arts and encouraging them to get out of their comfort zones to try something new and maybe even slightly scary.

‘You can only achieve that if they know that they’re safe and not going to be ridiculed for taking a chance or making a bold choice.’

The three-day camp is being held until today, April 2.At that point, Ryan plans to welcome aspiring actors with open arms.

Others taking part in the camp include Parks and Recreation actor Jim O’Heir, who played Jerry Gergich on the long-running sitcom, and Naomi Grossman, best known for her role as Pepper in the second and fourth seasons of the American Horror Story.

Ryan, meanwhile, said of his brain child: ‘There must be a place for our youth to feel that they can explore the arts without judgement.’ 

The Young Actors’ Theatre Camp has been contacted for comment but did not respond to DailyMail.com.