ELORA – Staff at the Elora Distilling Company are feeling under attack after posting information on Facebook about a drag show the facility is hosting.
Not long after details about the show were posted a few weeks ago, owner Marty Van Vliet said the business started getting negative comments, some of them threatening.
And on Jan. 11, staff started receiving emails and threatening phone calls at the business.
Van Vliet said they have blocked those making the posts on Facebeook, reported them to the website as hate speech, and deleted the hateful messages.
But a screen shot of some of the offending comments was shared with the Advertiser.
One, from someone named Kirk Sichewski, reads, “I hope you all go broke for supporting child groomers like this! Pathetic!”
A Don Mega states, “Undiagnosed mental illness. It’s unfortunate.”
And a Sam Kays wrote, “Bring back firing squads.”
Marty Van Vliet during a November 2021 rum tasting. Advertiser file photo
Van Vliet said the messages make his blood boil.
“I woke up at 3am feeling really angry,” he said in a phone interview.
“I’m gay and I’ve been treated really well in Elora. It’s a very positive place to be.
“But there’s a strong religious right in Canada. I guess I forgot about that living here.”
It’s hard to know exactly who the commenters are and how many are local.
Some are far-right Christians and far-right conservatives, he said. Some are from the U.S. and some from other parts of Canada.
One call to the distillery accusing staff of being pedophiles came from a Mount Forest phone number. That number has been shared with police.
Van Vliet said he spoke with OPP officials, who will deploy two officers to the club on Jan. 28, the night of the drag show.
He said he feels negativity towards gay and trans people really amped up this fall. Much of that was south of the border – notably a shooting in November at a LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado where five people were killed.
But a drag show in Guelph in October was also cancelled and the plug was pulled at an all-ages drag event in Hamilton because of threats to the venues.
“I won’t be bullied,” Van Vliet insisted, saying he’s informed the performers and they still want to go on.
“And I’m not going to cancel.”
OPP media relations officer Jacob Unger stated in an email that police take these threats seriously.
“I sit on the Minto Pride Committee, and as a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, I am very passionate about working with community partners to help build safe, diverse and inclusive spaces in our community,” he wrote.
“Officers will be investigating the comments that were reported to police.”
Unger said investigating online comments can be challenging, as many comments do not originate in the local community.
“However, there is no place for hate, and those making any type of comments such as these should be aware that any threats or harassment of a criminal nature are not acceptable by law,” he said.
The Elora Distilling Company’s Facebook page used this image to promote the Jan. 28 event.
Unger said there was a similar situation last June, when Pride flags and decorations were vandalized throughout the county and a drag show hosted in Harriston was met with derogatory messages.
At that time Inspector Steve Thomas said there is no room for hate or intolerance in the community.
“That message has not changed,” Unger continued.
“The Wellington County OPP takes these reports very seriously and will always work with the organizers of events to make sure that the event can take place in a way so that all involved feel safe.”
The Elora Distilling Company has held three other drag shows and never had this kind of reaction, Van Vliet said.
It also holds scrabble nights, murder mystery evenings, and history nights.
The “Winter’s a Drag” show features three drag queens and kings who dress in “outrageous” costumes and lip sync to popular songs.
They are fun, lively shows intended to blow the “blah” out of winter, Van Vliet explained.
“Nothing they are doing is risqué or sexual,” he said, adding no children have ever come to the drag shows.
Van Vliet stressed he will not be deterred by hate and harassment.
“I feel that this is not representative of our community or our country and it needs to be pulled out from the shadows and exposed,” he said.
“Harassing people for their sexual orientation was a thing of the past.
“These people should not be allowed to make it acceptable again.”
The drag show is slated for Jan. 28 at the distillery in Elora. Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8.
Tickets are $30 and include a drink. They can be ordered on the distillery’s website, its Facebook page or by phone.
