The United States government, which is currently about $30.9 trillion in debt, has just given over $20,000 of taxpayer money to a cultural center in Ecuador so it can host “drag theater performances.”

The U.S. Department of State gave this grant to the non-profit organization Centro Ecuatoriano Norteamericano (CEN) on September 23, apparently in the name of “diversity and inclusion.”

The State Department’s public diplomacy program awarded CEN with this grant. According to its website, the program’s mission is to “support the achievement of U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives, advance national interests, and enhance national security by informing and influencing foreign publics and by expanding and strengthening the relationship between the people and government of the United States and citizens of the rest of the world.”

Somehow, training drag queens and putting on drag shows promotes national interests and enhances national security(?).

The money from the State Department is going towards a project that will include “3 workshops,” “12 drag theater performances,” and a “2-minute documentary.”

The details of this grant are laid out at USASpending.gov.

Good to know our tax dollars are being well-spent.