Women Empowering Men? Behind enemy lines at a fundraising event for female artists in Calgary
- Raven Maverick
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
by Raven Maverick
Male trans activist bully, drag queen, wins women's arts award
This article was first published on Raven Maverick's Substack on November 10, 2025
A couple of days before the Famous Five Foundation in Ottawa awarded a 2025 Famous 5 Award to trans activist Fae Johnstone, the Calgary chapter of the Firecracker Department, an organization that describes itself as a place for “female and non-binary artists to connect, create, and empower each other,” awarded their annual Blaze award to Victoria Bucholtz (aka drag queen Karla Marx), at the organization’s annual fundraising brunch and comedy show.
Glamour Magazine UK would go on to feature nine men as its Women of the Year the same week.
Bucholtz was also the headlining act of the comedy show with a stand-up act comprised of jokes about his “lesbianism,” “bottom surgery,” erectile dysfunction, strap-on shopping, children’s sexuality (!), and even some derogatory comments about male DJs. It was an act that belonged more in a trans or queer space than at a show for an organization that was supposed to be about empowering female artists.
Like Johnstone, Bucholtz, a gender studies professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary as well as a drag and burlesque performer, is a militant trans activist who is currently speaking out against the Alberta government’s legislation regarding gender ideology in schools and related issues.
Bucholtz is also known for bullying MLA Jennifer Johnson over Zoom during a meeting where she was attempting to make amends with the LGBTQ+ community for apparently offensive comments about transgender youth before being allowed back into caucus. The video speaks for itself. It is simply a man bullying a woman and attempting to compel her speech. I am sure that he would not have dared if Jennifer had been a John or a Jeremy.
Bucholtz: "I'll give you one last chance. Are trans women women? Will you say that on record?"
This liberal and “progressive” group of female artists decided that this individual, a man who couldn’t be more male if he tried, is the crème de la crème of “female” stand-up comedy in the city, thus giving him the coveted headlining spot on stage, as well as their annual award, both meant for female artists.
Bucholtz also received a King Charles III Coronation Medal (nominated by Premier Danielle Smith) in June of this year.
As well as not being a woman by any stretch of the imagination, this is not an individual that needs empowering by a community of female artists. I certainly can’t see him helping to empower female artists in return!
I attended the event, which, though open to anyone was mostly attended by women. It was smaller than I had anticipated and “brunch” consisted of coffee and pastries.
I had not done my research into the organization ahead of time unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), and by attending, I unwittingly stepped behind enemy lines.
Despite the shock and discomfort of being in the same place as Bucholtz (who blocked me on X a year or so ago, and, I learned later, assaulted a friend of mine at Pride), I planted a smile on my face and laughed at the absurdity of the whole thing. I wanted to speak out, say something, but to do so could have serious repercussions for me, especially for work.
Upon reflection, it really is not a surprise, predictable almost, that this group chose to celebrate Bucholtz as a “female” artist.
Despite recent “wins” for us TERFs and sex realists, progressives continue to bleat the mantra “trans women are women” and hold up these men as prime examples of “womanhood.” They are held up as “dolls” that need protecting, with “Protect the Dolls” being the new mantra when the old one gets too stale.
It rings true that when you invite a vampire into your home, it is very hard to rescind the invitation.
The vampires in this case are trans-identified men. They have managed to obtain the open invitation into female spaces by manipulating female compassion and empathy.
I recently came across the Buddhist concept of “Idiot Compassion” (in contrast to “Wise Compassion”) which sums it up nicely.
Woke compassion, with its focus on inclusion and empathy, is a form of idiot compassion. Enabling by validation of a false identity or delusion is also idiot compassion. Idiot compassion often is more about the ego of the person providing the inclusivity and kindness. It is performative. Pure optics. We see this when someone dissents to cult beliefs.
The inclusivity and kindness go straight out the window when dissenters (women in particular) state gender critical views. Canada is perhaps one of the last great woke holdouts with collective national idiot compassion. Perhaps this is due, in part, to the branding of it as a kind, inclusive and polite nation.
This is what makes the battle such a hard one. Going back to the video of Bucholtz’s attempt to compel a woman’s speech, Jennifer Johnson, her career on the line, tries her hardest to calm the waters, requesting that they agree to disagree and still respect each other. Bucholtz was having none of it and ended the meeting stating he would speak out against it.
MaryCate Delvey’s comic take on the interview is how it should have gone down.
This is what should have happened from the start of this madness, before autogynephilic males were given an open invitation into female spaces. Women should have said no. Some did but not enough of us.
Now, with the sheer number of useful idiots masquerading as kind and compassionate women, rescinding this invitation will take time. An organization such as the Firecracker Department is not a place for a gender critical woman and many of us have become disillusioned with the arts community in general for its trans-inclusion at the expense of female single sex spaces and groups.
Luckily, I have discovered that organizations working to re-establish the sex-based rights of women are full of artistic women like me. Perhaps through our art, collectively we can rescind the invitation from these vampires.
Raven Maverick is a radical feminist writer and artist who resides in Calgary, Alberta.
