Several parents of students enrolled at a Canadian school pulled their children out of class on Friday after learning of a gender identity presentation that took place last week.
It emerged that the performance to seventh- to ninth-grade students, ages 12 to 15, at Oyster Pond Academy was performed in part by Teo Ferguson, a non-binary drag queen with many racy photos on her social media profile.
According to his Facebook profile, Ferguson also works as a creative programming facilitator at The Youth Project, a nonprofit organization that provides support to young people struggling with their gender identity or sexual orientation.
The presentation covered topics related to sexual orientation, gender identity and relationships. Ferguson told DailyMail.com that children were taught how people who identify as queer can express their gender.
While some parents of Nova Scotia school children were outraged by the content of the presentation, others are understood to have been infuriated when they discovered the presenter is a drag queen in her spare time.
Teo Ferguson, pictured, is an educator employed by The Youth Project but is also a drag queen.
Ferguson told DailyMail.com he participated in the sexual orientation and gender identity conference at Oyster Pond Academy, pictured.
Ferguson told DailyMail.com that when the parents discovered this, they attacked them on Facebook and sent them direct messages condemning the behavior.
Much of the outrage supposedly stems from the fact that Ferguson shared his drag account with an underage student.
Two of his profiles, one on Facebook and one on Instagram, contain images of Ferguson wearing scantily clad outfits and in provocative poses.
Ferguson’s stage name is ‘Cookie Cunningham’.
The Halifax Regional Education Centre, which houses Oyster Pond Academy, acknowledged this occurred in a statement to CTV Newsalthough he did not specifically name Ferguson.
“One of the presenters shared his personal details on social media, which led some of the students to view content intended for an adult audience,” the statement read.
Pictured: A flyer advertising a show Ferguson was performing at. Her stage name is Cookie Cunningham.
Hollie Riggs was one of the parents who opted to take her child out of school that day.
“It went beyond what should be taught in the classroom,” Riggs told CTV News.
“It was the fact of how much was discussed and what the kids had access to after the meeting,” he added, referring to the drag story Ferguson shared.
In multiple social media posts and statements to DailyMail.com, Ferguson explained that they gave out their drag account details by mistake.
“The reality is that a teacher was initially very excited to see me in his classroom talking about gender, identity and sexual orientation from grades 7 to 9,” Ferguson originally wrote in a Facebook post.
‘Now grades 7-8 didn’t find out about my social media, but in grade 9 they did because of a teacher’s enthusiasm.’
Ferguson went on to explain that toward the end of the ninth grade presentation, another teacher and a student approached him and asked for his social media.
“That’s when I made the error in judgment and gave out my drag account information,” Ferguson told DailyMail.com, adding: “I didn’t physically show them my account at all.”
“I should also emphasize that at the beginning of all the presentations I told all the classes not to look for me on social media,” Ferguson also said.
Hollie Riggs and Greg Austin told CTV News they were against the performance and were blindsided by it. Austin alleged that the students were not allowed to leave
Another parent, Greg Austin, told CTV News that students were not allowed to leave the performance.
‘My son came home from school yesterday. “He was telling me about the interactions he had with the influencer,” Austin said. “Mainly for me as a parent, we had no idea anyone was coming to talk to our kids.”
Austin added that his son told him that others were not comfortable with the sermon that was being given.
“He could see that people were not comfortable and that other people asked to leave, but were not allowed to leave,” Austin said. “There was no other option.”
Lindsey Bunin, communications officer at the Halifax Regional Education Centre, told DailyMail.com that “students were encouraged to attend the session based on content that aligned” with the Health Education curricula provided by the Nova Scotia Department of Education.
“If a student felt uncomfortable and did not want to stay to watch the presentation, they should have been allowed to leave,” Bunin added. “This has been addressed with the administration, and they have been directed to allow students to respectfully excuse themselves in the future if they have concerns about a speaker’s presentation.”
After receiving complaints from parents, the school’s principal and vice principal sent a letter to parents explaining that they were legally required to follow the Health Education curriculum.
The Halifax Regional Education Center told students that Ferguson’s social media should not have been shared.
Pictured: Teo Ferguson, who apologized for sharing his drag queen social media with some students.
Curriculum documents viewed online for eighth grade students outline some of the topics health educators should cover in class.
Students will investigate methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. “They will explore puberty, brain development and changing relationships as markers of the adolescent stage and how they relate to body image,” according to the document, last updated in 2022.
Students are also introduced to “pornography, consent, and sexual violence” and given guidance on “how to seek help related to sexual and reproductive health issues.”
One parent told CTV News he had no problem with the presentation at school and said his son, who is struggling with his gender identity, found it helpful.
The Halifax Regional Education Center also said administrators visited the ninth-grade class to discuss the consequences and explain that the social media account should not have been shared.