The State Department argues that a $20,600 grant for a cultural center in Ecuador to stage “drag theater performances” allows LGBTQ individuals in the South American nation a platform “to express themselves freely and safely.”
The funding was given to the Centro Ecuatoriano Norteamericano (CEN), a non-profit backed by the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Ecuador, on September 23 to “encourage diversity and inclusion” in the area, according to the media.
According to the State Department’s funding advertised on the USASpending.gov website, the project at CEN will consist of “3 workshops,” “12 drag theater performances,” and a “2-minute documentary” and will begin on September 30 and go until August 31, 2023.
According to a statement given to the media by a spokesman for the State Department, the award is a component of “a wide variety of strategic projects in Ecuador that encompass ideas from diversity, inclusion, and representation to equality and accessibility.”
