Washington State spending $83K on DEI training featuring co founder of Drag Queen Story Hour

Washington State is planning to spend approximately $83,000 on employee diversity training featuring the co-founder of Drag Queen Story Hour.

According to the Daily Wire, the Washington DEI Empowerment Conference has scheduled for every Wednesday in June to include training on diversity, “anti-racism” and equity.



A keynote speech titled “Drag Story Hour and Fireside Chat” is scheduled for June 21 as part of the conference in order to defend drag performances in front of minors.

The speech description states that Executive Director of Drag Queen Story Hour Jonathan Paul Hamilt, also known as "Ona Louise," will share “the necessity of LGBTQAI+ family programming and how the powerful art form of drag teaches young humans about inclusivity, celebrating diversity, and the vital freedom of self-expression.”

According to Hamilt’s biography, he has a personal goal of “offering affirming and accepting programming for kids” in an attempt to heal his “inner child.”

Drag Queen Story Hour has been exposed previously for bringing registered sex offenders to their events with minors.

The training will also feature Alex Petrovina and Sam Mendum-Purdy of the Trans Formations Project. The non-profit organization claims to “protect trans kids” and is “dedicated to tracking and educating about the anti-trans legislative crisis currently sweeping the United States.”

Lisa Grund and Tangi Tash will also give a lecture at the conference, titled “Incorporating DEIB and Anti-Racism Work into Recruitment,” to showcase how those working in talent acquisition and Human Resources have “unique opportunities to create equity and inclusion in very intentional ways in our day-to-day workflow” in order to establish “authenticity and antiracism as a way of life at work.”

Phillip Jacobs, who previously directed the Washington Employers for Racial Equity, will lead a session titled “The Elephant in the Room” discussing America’s “original and most persistent sin, racism.”

The deputy communications director of the Office of Financial Management Hayden Michaels told the outlet, “We expect the cost of putting on the conference to be about $83,000. With 16 sessions and 5,000 seats each session, this works out to $1.06 per seat.”

$48,000 of the total is for speaker fees while $17,923 is allocated for accessibility services such as transcription and sign language interpreters. $17,440 will be spent on technology for the virtual conference.

Michaels told the Daily Wire that the conference enables Washington’s taxpayer-funded employees to “learn more about the lived experiences and challenges of Washingtonians we often don’t reach or hear from,” before also claiming “These are people who regularly face systemic barriers, exclusion from accessing government services, harm from policies, or discrimination in the workplace.”