Family events across Canada, many of which host municipal libraries, were flooded with hateful comments and threats during Pride Month, sparking numerous police investigations and renewed concerns about the safety of the LGBTQ community.
More than half a dozen libraries and drag artists, from St. John to Victoria, reported being flooded online and over the phone with homophobic insults and in some cases threats of violence.
Drag Story Hour events are popular in many libraries in the country and usually involve a performer in reading children’s books on inclusion. They are often held in cooperation with local LGBTQ associations and have caused only minor controversy in the past.
But amid rising anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies in the United States and the conservative movement in Canada, increasingly influenced by right-wing politics south of the border, events of all ages have become points of anger.
The city of Dorval, a suburb of Montreal, received a wave of complaints in early June, as soon as it announced that its library was hosting a history class with a well-known local artist, Barbados.
“We received hate mail. We received threats. You call it – we received it,” said Sebastien Gauthier, a city spokesman.
Drag performers Jessica Rabid, left, and Farah Naff, right, were among two dozen supporters who appeared to defend drag storytelling of all ages in Calgary last week. (Dan McGarvey / CBC)
In the comments, library staff were accused, among other things, of aiding pedophiles and threatened with lawsuits. Their personal information was also disseminated online.
“We also received more alarming threats about the activity itself, people who threatened to come and do this and that during the event,” Gauthier said.
Montreal police patrolled the June 11 incident, which passed without incident, and began investigating the threats.
“I have been working for the city for almost 20 years. I’ve never seen anything like it, “Gauthier said.
A drag show for all ages in Victoria was canceled in mid-June after the cafe, which was to host, received numerous threatening phone calls.
“Our show has been running for the last three years with absolutely zero complaints or concern from anyone in the community,” said a spokesman for For the Love of Drag, the band he was to perform.
The spokesman asked CBC News to keep their name due to continuing safety concerns.
Online hatred targeting libraries in Canada comes amid rising anti-LGBT rhetoric and policies in the United States Earlier this month, police in Corr d’Alen, Idaho, arrested 31 men for plotting a Pride riot. (North Country Off Grid / Youtube / Reuters)
“It’s scary to be reminded that there are people who want you not to exist, who want to be able to harm you – especially during the month of pride,” the spokesman said in an email.
The police investigation does not treat the incident as a hate crime and no charges have been filed, but a restraining order has been issued against one person, the spokesman said.
Libraries in Pembroke, Ont., Pickering Ont., Orylia, Ont., And Calgary also confirmed that they received a large amount of negative comments about hosting their own Drag Story Hour events this month.
Ontario provincial police said they were actively investigating the Pembroke incident, but declined to provide further details.
Convoy groups
The tide of hatred seems to have different sources. In St. John’s, for example, past and ambitious candidates from the People’s Party of Canada were among those who spread misleading images on their social media accounts to suggest that a local history class event earlier this month was not suitable for age.
One image was from a 2019 burlesque show in the United States, the other was from an adult show in April.
The publications provoked a long series of hateful comments against the artist Alex Saunders, whose dear persona is Justin Tudip.
“We read a few books about a prince and a knight who fell in love, and then a few books about different types of families that you can see,” Saunders said of the June event for all ages.
In several cases, groups and social media accounts associated with the Freedom Convoy encouraged supporters to protest the Drag Story Hour events. (Evan Mitsui / CBC)
Saunders said they sent screenshots of more than 40 pages to St. John’s police, including one that said it was time to “light the torches” and another that called for Saunders and his fellow performer to be burned alive.
Saunders says they have been told there is not enough evidence of a direct threat to bring charges.
“[It has been] very scary and weird and I was really trying to present a brave face to my community, but I got a complete breakdown, crying, not-wanting-to leave the house, ”Saunders said.
Alex Saunders, also known as Justin Tudip, helped host a drag story with the St. John’s Free Public Library on June 5th. (Submitted by Alex Saunders)
The Pickering Public Library said it had received a wave of homophobic and transphobic comments, both over the phone and online, following an article and video report by True North, a right-wing media outlet founded by former Conservative MP Candice Malcolm.
On True North’s Facebook page, posts about the event received more than a dozen homophobic comments, many accusing the performers of dragging pedophilia, a long-standing trope of anti-LGTBQ rhetoric.
In several cases, groups and social media accounts associated with the Freedom Convoy encouraged supporters to protest the Drag Story Hour events.
Stand4Thee, an anti-wax mandate group that backed the Ottawa blockade, has issued several calls in the past month for members to contact libraries hosting relocation events.
In a post on Telegram, a social media app, the group said the events “indoctrinate our children” and are “disgusting perverted filth”. Their posts were shared on the Convoy to Ottawa 2022 channel, one of the largest groups in the app used by convoy supporters.
Members of Calgary Freedom Central, a Telegram channel with nearly 9,000 subscribers that helped raise support for truck blockades in Ottawa and Coots, Alta, this winter, used insults as they tried to mobilize opposition to an event last week at a branch. Calgary Public Library.
Members offered a physical confrontation to show the performers that they were “not welcome” in Calgary. Another user offered to confront parents who brought their children to the event.
As in many other online forums, comments in Calgary Freedom Central often refer to the term “groomer” to describe drag artists or library staff hosting events.
The ridicule, which stems from the baseless stereotype that LGBTQ people are involved in pedophilia, is becoming increasingly popular among right-wing groups in the United States, where several drag story-related events have been interrupted by protests this month.
When the LGTBQ community in Calgary learned of the negative online chat, about 25 community members and their supporters showed up at last week’s event to prevent disruption.
“I want to make sure that children and performers are as safe as possible,” said Farah Naff, a drag artist who attended the event at the Nichols Family Library.
Although threatened, municipal library staff hosting such events insisted on their importance and said they would not be intimidated.
Bessie Sullivan, chief executive of the Orilia Public Library, said she never considered canceling the event, although callers, among other things, threatened to fire her.
“They pissed me off,” Sullivan said. “So in fact, what we did when it got stronger, I added a second time.”
Pembroke library officials say they have sent numerous threatening calls and emails, some promising that dozens of protesters would disrupt their event.
Karti Rajamani, the library’s chief executive, was concerned enough to contact the police and give her staff additional security training. But, like Sullivan, she never considered canceling the event.
“Libraries are community leaders. We must be an example of inclusion and diversity, “Rajamani said.
In the end, no one came to protest in Pembroke. The event was well attended and, Rajamani said, residents applauded the library for doing so. Several other librarians expressed similar sentiments.
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