Update: After the publication of this article, the owner of Blaze Bangor, Matthew Haskell, spoke with The Maine Wire, informing us that the event had been canceled, and that he had not approved an all-ages drag show.
“This is supposed to be an 18 plus show,” said Haskell, “We certainly did not sanction any sort of an all age drag show.”
Haskell clarified that he had approved an 18 plus ticketed drag event in his restaurant’s private event room. He was surprised to learn that the event was being advertised for “all ages” against his will. He was unsure why the drag show was being advertised that way, and was unaware that the performer was a DHHS employee.
Haskell informed The Maine Wire that he has canceled the event in response to the performer advertising it towards all ages against his will. He emphasized that, as a business owner, he is not intending to take sides in political issues.
“I don’t want people making assumptions about me or my political beliefs or where I stand on, frankly, anything,” said Haskell.
“If Paul LePage Walked through the door and wanted to do a fundraiser upstairs and invite people in to spend $100 a head to eat turkey dinner, I’d do that. If Janet Mills called and said ‘I want to have an event upstairs, $100 a head to eat Maine lobster, I’d do that,” said Haskell, “I just care about my business and working hard.”
A Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) employee who worked in child protective services until at least 2024 and appears to remain employed by the department in another capacity is headlining an upcoming Bangor drag show aimed at “all ages.”
“Hosted by the one and only, your hometown queen, Carmilla Velour, this high-camp drag brunch is serving up fierce performances and brunch bites you’ll dream about every Sunday until the next show,” said Facebook user Cameron Alexander, promoting his “all ages” drag show.
Alexander, who lists his pronouns as they/them, will be performing at the Blaze Bangor restaurant on Sunday morning using the stage name Carmilla Velour, for the “Bubbles and Blush Blaze Drag Brunch,” explicitly advertised for all ages.
One important fact sets Alexander apart from other men performing for children while dressed as women. Alexander, according to his Facebook, is currently employed by the Maine DHHS as a Policy and Training Specialist/Supervisor.
He previously worked at the department as a Child Protective Social Worker.
Though no one by the name of Cameron Alexander is listed in DHHS payroll records, there is record of an employee named Cameron A. Grover, who was employed as a child protective service caseworker, and a social services program specialist as of 2024, the most recent available payroll information.
In 2024, Grover received a combined $97,647 worth of taxpayer money in wages and benefits from his two positions at the DHHS.
Based on their employment histories, Cameron Alexander and Cameron A. Grover appear to be the same person. Notably, Alexander’s Facebook url is “NotCameronGrover.”
According to the Facebook page, Alexander previously worked as a professor of communications and a marketing specialist for the Center for Student Involvement at the University of Maine.
There is a record on the university’s Center for Student Involvement page of an organizer named Cameron Grover, and a RateMyProfessor page for a UMaine communications professor by the same name, supplying further evidence that Grover and Alexander are the same person.
A person claiming to be a former DHHS employee and colleague of Grover, speaking under the condition of anonymity, told The Maine Wire that Grover and Alexander are the same person, aligning with what other evidence appear to show.
The Maine Wire spoke with two DHHS employees within the Human Resources Department who both refused to confirm whether Grover is still employed at the DHHS, citing potential safety concerns. They directed The Maine Wire to DHHS Press Secretary Lindsay Hammes who did not immediately respond.
Using the standard formula for state employee email addresses, The Maine Wire reached out to Grover. The email successfully went through, showing that the address remains active and implying that Grover remains employed by the DHHS.
According to Facebook posts, Grover was performing in drag under a different stage name, Carmilla Corinne, in the “Break the Hinges to Hell” show at least as early as 2023 while he was working as a child protective caseworker.
In a concerning 2024 statement, coming while Grover was still an active caseworker, he claimed that he is “deeply disinterested in anything that involves being quiet, calm, and heterosexual.”
According to the former DHHS employee who spoke with the Maine Wire on the condition of anonymity, Grover has previously faced disciplinary issues within the department. However, the department would not answer the Maine Wire’s questions, and the Maine Wire could not independently confirm whether Grover had previously been disciplined.
The Maine Wire asked Grover to comment on those allegations via email, but he did not immediately respond.
