Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / PML / A banner promoting the Glow Up dance and creative showcase appears in the front entrance area of Chilliwack Secondary School earlier this month. The event featuring drag performers, a dance, and photo booth happens later this week at Chilliwack Secondary.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Chilliwack Secondary

Creative showcase featuring drag performers at Chilliwack Secondary draws support, opposition

Feb 14, 2023 | 1:18 PM

CHILLIWACK — As organizers gear up for what’s being billed as a creative showcase and dance featuring drag performers later this week at Chilliwack Secondary, the planned event has drawn support, along with dismay from perhaps an unlikely opponent.

“Chilliwack Glow Up” is set for this Thursday, February 16 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Chilliwack Secondary. Tickets are $10. The event features a dance and creative showcase complete with a photo booth and drag performances.

Tammy Mitchell is a member of the Chilliwack LGBTQ+ community and a 27-year resident of Chilliwack. In her own words, she describes herself as a 58-year-old married lesbian, with four adult children and 13 grandchildren, of which nine grandchildren live in Chilliwack. She has been married to her partner, the same woman, of over 31 years.

Image: Screenshot, supplied by Tammy Mitchell / Chilliwack resident Tammy Mitchell, a member of the LGBTQ+ community in Chilliwack, has expressed dismay at an upcoming dance and creative showcase featuring drag performers at Chilliwack Secondary. School board chair Willow Reichelt and Chilliwack Pride Society have expressed support for the event.

She says she emailed the Chilliwack Board of Education, principal and vice-principal of Chilliwack Secondary, among others, to express her concerns with the event.

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“”There is absolutely no need for this type of event to be connected with our education system,” Mitchell said. “If a group of LGBTQ+ in Chilliwack wants to host an event such as this (which I wouldn’t agree with either) at the very least they should rent a hall, and advertise it for non-minors. The issue here is inappropriate adult entertainers performing for, with, or in front of minors.”

Her email to Chilliwack school board trustees generated a response on February 1 from board chair Willow Reichelt; Mitchell shared that response with Fraser Valley Today.

“Hello Tammy, thank you for sharing your concerns about the Glow Up event,” Reichelt wrote in her reply to Mitchell. “This is an optional social event held in the evening. SD33 is an inclusive school district. This doesn’t mean that every event or activity held on school property will appeal to all students. It means that we offer enough options that all students should be able to find something they want to participate in.”

Mitchell says she enjoys drag shows in an adult entertainment venue, but not if minors are present.

“My concerns about this event are not hate-driven, nor should they been seen as non-inclusive, nor bigoted,” Mitchell wrote in an email. “I write as a person who is trying to weed out this trash and protect childhood innocence. I’m not against drag queens at all, or trans people. I enjoy drag shows in adult entertainment venues, and some of my good friends are transgendered, having decided to become so, as adults, not children or youth.”

Reichelt wrote in her email response to Mitchell on February 1 that the event will be appropriate for a teen audience.

“The drag performances at Glow Up will be age appropriate for a teen audience,” Reichelt said in her email. “These queens have experience performing at family-friendly events, including Chilliwack Pride and Drag Queen Bingo. The performances will be fully-clothed adults in fancy dresses lip-synching to pop songs. Many people enjoy drag as an art form. Those who do not will want to skip this event.”

Chilliwack Pride released a statement Tuesday (Feb. 14) saying it supports the event.

“The Chilliwack Pride Society supports the Glow Up Dance and Creative Showcase. Like any artist, drag performers tailor their shows for their audience, ensuring age-appropriate performances. Drag artists share a message that everyone can benefit from, young and old, straight or queer; it’s okay to be different. In celebrating our differences together, we can strengthen our entire community,” Chilliwack Pride Society said in a statement.