Issue 33: The Drag Community in Toronto: Your Chosen Family, Explained  May 26th 2025

The Fight to Preserve Drag Culture Amid Political Challenges & Misinformation

President Trump recently announced plans to ban drag performances at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, one of America's leading cultural venues. In a social media post, he wrote, "NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST." In response, hundreds of LGBTQ+ members and allies gathered outside the Kennedy Center to protest. The previous board was fired, and the new board unanimously approved Trump as its chair.

For years, the right has demonized the LGBTQ+ community, using their culture and art to incite fear among the public. Drag performers have been falsely accused of being "pedophiles" and "groomers".

Drag's Roots in Theater and Art

Spinning Forward spoke with Dean Lobo at The 519 organization and three drag performers from the Toronto area: Troy Caplan (TroyBoy Parks @troyboyparks), Devion Farley (Devine Darlin @devinedarlin), and Andrew Nguyen (Gei Ping Hohl @geipinghohl). They talk about what drag means, its roots, the community, and its current challenges.

Meet Troy Caplan (Mr. Troyboy Parks)

Drag's history comes from the world of theater, where performers explored and challenged traditional gender roles. Guelph-based Troy Caplan, who performs as a drag king under the stage name, Mr. TroyBoy Park says,

"This is what boggles my mind with the people from the right, because a lot of people don't understand that drag's roots are from theater, ...from thousands of years ago... From the very beginning, we've celebrated arts and culture, and from that, came exploring gender, playing with constructs created by society."

Source: BBC: The fabulous history of drag. Shakespeare's As You Like Play: It features a cross-dressing character when Rosalind (centre) disguises herself as a boy called Ganymede.

Meet Devion Farley (Devine Darline)

Devion Farley, a nurse by day and a veteran drag queen by night, whose stage name is Devine Darlin, has performed for 19 years. He describes his drag persona as an old-school R&B vibe with a Caribbean flavour and performs in the village on Church Street in Toronto. On drag’s historical relevance, Farley says "drag has been around for so long… It's been in Shakespeare. It's been around for centuries." He believes drag celebrates individuality and creative expression, explaining that it’s “much more than just costumes and makeup". Some of the earliest appearances of drag were in the late 16th century as men dressed in women's clothing to play female roles on stage, due to restrictions that barred women from performing in Shakespearean theatre.

Meet Andrew Nguyen (Gei Ping Hohl)

Toronto-based Andrew Nguyen, whose drag stage name is Gei Ping Hohl, began performing six years ago. By day, he is a cinematographer, & filmmaker. As a queer Vietnamese Canadian, drag helped him embrace both his femininity and his Asian identity. He says, "Growing up in Canada, I never had that representation, and drag taught me how to embrace who I am. It's been liberating."

Modern-Day Drag: Community and Resilience

Besides performing, drag is about self-discovery and finding community that looks out for each other. When Nguyen first started in drag, he said, "the community was so open, welcoming. I felt at home like I had a sense of belonging."

For Farley, getting into drag was a big confidence booster. He recalls,

"I used to be a very shy individual, and drag gave me the confidence and the ability to express myself a lot more… It made me a better person than I am today.”

He's also a drag mother, which is where a more experienced performer mentors a younger and newer performer.

"If they need any advice on like makeup, wigs, whatever they want or so forth. It's more so like a mom, a mother, just being there to support their kids....Taking care of my drag children is what makes—the love that they don't get from home, they get from being a part of the drag family.”

Caplan is the producer of TroyBoy Entertainment, which hosted 25 drag events during the 2024 Pride Tour to 18 small and more conservative communities in Ontario. On the drag community's ability to absorb prejudice and criticism, he says,

"We have no problem being the linked arms and dealing with that wall while we push the rainbow through."

On Fear, Ignorance, and Harmful Rhetoric Against Drag Culture

One of the most pervasive threats to drag culture today is the harmful rhetoric that falsely portrays drag performers as predators or threats to youth. Dean Lobo, is the Senior Communications Advisor at The 519, Canada's largest 2SLGBTQ plus community centre and service provider. He says,

"There is a huge deal of misinformation going around. We are in a misinformation epidemic, something that is being weaponized by alt-right movements."

Nguyen brings up Drag Queen Story time, which were events hosted in the US and Canada by drag queens. They led to a flurry of accusations from right-wingers, calling them "groomers" and "predators". He says,

”We're literally trying to create a safe space for people and educate others about what our art form truly represents...The current political climate is about fear-mongering and painting us to be predators or groomers when we're simply just not."

On censoring queer literature and media, Nguyen has strong feelings:

"Without exposure to drag queens, drag artists, queer literature or queer media, we wouldn't have a sense of belonging. I feel bad for the younger generation, where we're literally censoring and taking away all of the resources that are accessible to the public."

Farley says misinformation is being weaponized against the drag community:

"People just want scapegoats… They're using the drag community or drag artists as scapegoats for whatever agenda they want to put forward".

Caplan emphasizes the importance of education, visibility, and community solidarity to combat harmful stereotypes and misinformation.

"If history were something that you had to learn and wasn't something that was optional, the world would be a very different place."

Drag Culture About Creating Joy and Moments of Connection for Community

Lobo says for The 519, "part of our community work is also creating joy and creating moments of connection for community. And one of the ways we do that is through drag, be it at our pride celebrations, our programming, our family programming, and so on and so forth."

In February 2025, Drag performers in Ontario won a defamation case and a victory against a blogger who falsely accused them of being pedophiles and "grooming" children, following Drag Story Time events hosted in Thunder Bay. Responding to the ruling, Lobo says, "It's an open sign that people who peddle hate will not find impunity on social media."

How To Respond Amid Political Challenges & Misinformation?

Caplan has seen this fight before and recognizes "Trump's wave is coming. ..The right in Canada always feels comfortable reminding individuals that they are not wanted in a place." Farley agrees that, "it's coming here too… it’s sad to see the situation in the US where it could be dangerous to travel as a Black gay man”.

Caplan believes drag’s role is to spark conversations about identity and to challenge social norms. He says,

”At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what's in between their legs. Drag is about what they're presenting on stage and making people think".

Farley hopes people unfamiliar with drag will make up their own minds by experiencing a live show:

"People should go to a show and see what it's about instead of listening to what [certain] people say and follow a bandwagon."

Nguyen sees this moment as a time for unity and solidarity with allies:

"It's not the time where we alienate each other, it's the time we come together, especially with our straight allies. ..We need to create resources, whether it be through social media, whether it be through articles and relay that to the people. ..It takes a village to combat the hatred within the world."

Drag is a form of entertainment with deep cultural roots. It is about self-expression, acceptance, and representation. While the fight for LGBTQ+ rights continues, it's important to push back against hate speech and the epidemic of misinformation about drag culture.

Sharon Ye is a student with a passion for journalism and creative illustration. Currently, she is studying to be a future pharmacist at the University of Waterloo, ON.