The Friendly Stranger Digital Drag Show will be hosted by Brock McGillis and Brooke Lynn Hytes on June 16.
Friendly Stranger, a cannabis retailer and culture shop in Toronto, has joined forces with Brock McGillis and Brooke Lynn Hytes to host a virtual drag show to raise funds for the city’s Church Street Village community, home to many LGBTQ2S folk and businesses.
Brock McGillis, LGBTQ2IA+ activist and the first openly gay male professional hockey player, and Brooke Lynn Hytes, finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11 and judge on Canada’s Drag Race, are set to host the show, which will feature performances from them as well as from 12 of Toronto’s top drag queens.
Viewers are recommended to pay $10 or more via GoFundMe to watch the event on FriendlyStranger.com on June 16 at 8pm EST. Net proceeds will be donated to Glad Day Lit’s Emergency Survival Fund, which directly supports the LGBTQ2IA+ artists, performers and tip wage earners within the Church Street Village community who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19.
“Community and advocacy have been cornerstones of the Friendly Stranger brand since 1994 when our original cannabis accessory store opened on Toronto’s Queen Street West,” said James Jesty, president of Friendly Stranger Holding Corp, in a statement. “With the recent launch of our flagship cannabis retail store at 501 Church Street we wanted to find a way to give back to the Village community and figured with Pride Month what better way to do that than celebrating one of the aspects [that] makes this neighbourhood so vibrant and unique.”
The 12 Toronto drag queens participating in the Digital Drag Fundraiser are Boa The Drag Queen, self-proclaimed as one of Toronto’s quirkiest queens; Lucy Flawless, a Dora-nominated actor, choreographer, producer, and theatre instructor; Baby Bel Bel, known for her high energy and vibrant wigs and costumes; Eric Brockobić, pre-Covid host of a Sunday brunch show at Glad Day Bookshop; Miss Fiercalicious, a relative newcomer to the Toronto drag scene; Devine Darlin, who holds titles such as Miss Gay Toronto, Miss Gay Universe, Toronto’s Next Drag Superstar and the first-ever Miss Crews and Tangos; Juice Boxx, whose aesthetic is “bright, bubbly, sinful and sexy;” Jada Hudson, who high-energy dance performances have earned her the title of Toronto’s Turn Up Queen; Courtney Conquers, a drag artist, performance videographer, freelance writer and obsessive knitter; Gia Metric, a mental health advocate and winner of Vancouver’s Next Drag Superstar 2018 and Vancouver’s Entertainer of The Year 2016; Sofonda Cox, actor and TD Bank’s Pride ambassador; and Sapphire, lover of musical theatre and winner of Crews & Tangos’ Drag Race 2018.
If you can’t tune in to the Friendly Stranger virtual drag show live on June 16 at 8pm, the show will live on their site for 30 days following the broadcast, to continue the fundraising efforts.
