Drag the Vote event in N.B. encourages 2SLGBTQ+ people to cast ballot in federal election
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Mitchell Goodine has an urgent message during this federal election campaign: Get out and vote.
Goodine is a Fredericton-based ambassador for Drag the Vote, a national campaign to engage 2SLGBTQ+ people and their allies to exercise their right to vote.
"We felt the tides turning and the energy shifting and wanted to get the queer community and in general, the youth and anybody in the community out to vote," said Goodine, also known as the drag performer Amour Love.
"It's not switching voters from blue to red, it's just simply switching from non-voter to voter."
Goodine, who hosted a Drag the Vote event in Oromocto on the weekend, said they are concerned about children's rights and any policy that could restrict them from being themselves.
"What we're frustrated about is not simply just having a queer voice or having queer rights. It's not having science-led policies and procedures, having faith-based decisions," they said.
They said that this change needs to be made from the "top down" to influence change.
"If the tone from the top says that I shouldn't be able to exist or the way that I exist is too loud and too proud, and I should be over there quietly behind closed doors with their restrictions and with their preferences, that's going to echo all the way down," said Goodine.
Connor Hibbs is also an ambassador for Drag the Vote and shares Goodine concerns.
Hibbs fears that recent changes to trans rights in the U.S. could also happen in Canada.
U.S. President Donald Trump declared in his inaugural address on Jan. 20 that "it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female."
"I'm worried about losing our rights completely and not being able to do drag because drag is my happy place," said Hibbs.
He got involved with Drag the Vote to "get people out and inform them" about the election.
Kendra Mackie of Cambridge Narrows, who has partner and a baby, said she worries about her human rights everyday.
She hopes that whoever is elected will respect her family and acknowledge that they exist.
"I can't imagine there being a government that just acknowledges that trans people don't exist and it's made-up. Like, I don't even want to really think about it," said Mackie.
The federal election is set for April 28. Advance polls open on April 18.
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