ELORA – Three people protesting outside didn’t dampen the mood at the “Winter’s a Drag” show at the Elora Distilling Company on Saturday night.
“The show was a huge success,” said David DeWitt, who booked and emceed the event.
Karma Kameleon, who performed at the sold-out show along with Darcy Kace and Ella Mint, said “it was a great crowd and the show itself was just pure joy.”
But seeing protesters when she arrived “shook” her, she added.
Three people protested outside for about two hours, arriving shortly after 6pm, almost an hour before the doors opened, and leaving around 8pm when the show began.
DeWitt said one of the protesters was “yelling Bible verses and telling us why we are going to hell.”
The others were calmer, claiming to be there “for love” and explaining, “this is why you are a sinner,” he added.
The protesters seemed “local to Fergus and Elora,” DeWitt noted.
Kameleon had interactions with all three protesters – “loud Jesus man screaming on his soapbox” and the others, who were “open to having conversations.”
These conversations led to one protester saying “slavery is less of a sin than cross-dressing,” she explained.
Kameleon said she has dealt with people like this before, but this time was the first to scare her.
Safety measures
Distillery staff called the Wellington County OPP shortly after guests started arriving, DeWitt said.
Constable Joshua Cunningham confirmed the OPP “responded to a disturbance at a business on Metcalfe Street, Elora” after it was reported that “individuals were trying to disrupt an event at that location.”
DeWitt said police spoke with the yelling protester but it “didn’t seem to go well,” he noted.
“The police did what they could while respecting the protesters’ freedom of speech.”
Police sent five cruisers “just as a precaution,” probably in case more protesters showed up, DeWitt said, adding, “Thank goodness no more did.”
Police entered the distillery for “a moment to talk to the owners and make sure everything was okay,” he said.
They did not go upstairs where the drag show was happening.
DeWitt was careful to get the performers “into the venue safely,” including by driving two of them to the show himself.
Many guests said they ”were proud that despite all the homophobic backlash all the performers were very respectful and were extremely strong” DeWitt said.
Inside the Elora Distilling Company. Photo by Robin George
It’s the fourth drag show the distillery has hosted, but the first that received backlash.
Distillery officials had private security on site – a first for the business – as a safety precaution after receiving threats and harassment via Facebook, emails, and phone calls in the weeks leading up to the show.
Co-owner Mark Anderson said “most of the protesters kind of went away when the cops came. They were gone by the time most people showed up …
“They were keeping an eye on them to make sure they were all talk and no action,” and they continued “cruising by throughout the evening to make sure everything was okay.”
Cunningham stated in a press release that “police attended the scene, and the three individuals left the area without incident.
“OPP continued regular patrol of the area during the course of the event and no further disturbances occurred.”
How to stop the hate
Kameleon said she feels that if 90 per cent of the people making negative comments online “just went to a drag show … this wouldn’t be happening.”
The other 10% are people who have gone so far into their beliefs that they can’t be educated, she said.
“That’s terrifying,” she said.
“It’s the people who don’t see us as people that scare me because you don’t know the damage they can do.”
She notes the guise of “protecting children” is used to justify acts of violence towards queer people.
“I think the easiest way to fix this is for there to be more of a push from local groups and social media platforms” to stop hate speech in its tracks, Kameleon said.
“These things happen because people feel empowered on social media and get away with it.
“Those of us who try to defend ourselves are being stopped more than the hate.”
There needs to be “more legislation about what hate speech is,” she said.
The Elora Distilling Company’s Facebook page used this image to promote the Jan. 28 event.
For example, Kameleon said while she gets “called the F-slur maybe once a month,” she’s called a groomer every time she goes online.
“That’s the language that opens us up to violence,” she said.
Kameleon is happy with how distillery officials handled things, both before and during the show.
She said they kept performers informed throughout, and she loves how they immediately deleted hateful comments on social media, “so no one has to see the hate.”
People repeat transphobic rhetoric “without understanding what they are saying,” she said. “Silencing it … is a massive thing.”
Kameleon said she doesn’t “support police presence at queer events, given the history of police in queer spaces,” but she understands why police were called from a business perspective.
They “were effective in keeping us safe last night,” she said.
Anderson said he made “a little appeal at the start of the show … reminding everyone to call out hate every time they see it” whether it’s based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression, or identity.
“If you confront it they generally back into their holes,” he said.
“We can’t allow hate to take over.”
The ‘little drag show’
Anderson said he was surprised people “actually cared enough to show up on a cold snowy evening to protest our little drag show.”
The show “was a really great time – everybody had fun,” Anderson said.
TIFFANY CLARKE (Photo by Robin George)
Whenever the Elora Distilling Company hosts a drag show “the vibe is guaranteed to be bursting with positivity” said Tiffany Clarke, the distillery’s events coordinator.
“The stress is just lifted because everybody is so happy.”
She said the protesters did not tarnish the positive vibe of the drag show – “they were more of an annoyance,” she said.
“Everybody just brushed it off.”
Clarke added, “Inclusivity is such a big thing, especially at this establishment.
“It’s a bummer when not everyone agrees with that.”
The next drag show at the Elora Distilling Company is booked for April 29.
Anderson hopes “it will go off with a little less attention,” noting tickets will go on sale in the next month or so.
