A parental rights group in Ontario is expressing concerns over free speech after a blogger was handed a heavy fine after accusing Ontario drag performers of "grooming" children.
In an email to supporters on Friday, Parents As First Educators highlighted the case of Brian Webster, a Thunder Bay blogger.
Last month, Webster was ordered by an Ontario judge to pay $380,000 in “damages” to Caitlin Hartlen, Felicia Crichton and John-Marcel Forget, and to the Rainbow Alliance Dryden.
On his online blog in 2022, Webster accused these parties of being “groomers." The performers accused him of “hate speech”.
The first post, made in September 2022, referenced CBC News coverage of an upcoming drag event in Dryden, Ontario which was then cancelled following a prank call. Webster shared screenshots of the news coverage and called the drag queens and king involved in the event "groomers."
In the December 2022 post, Webster referenced an upcoming drag storytime event in Thunder Bay and referred to "local drag queens who have been criminally charged with child pornography." But, according to CBC, no such charges had been laid.
In her decision, Justice Helen M. Pierce wrote, "There is a pattern of homophobic/transphobic conduct by the defendant's publication, both before and after the offending posts." She said Webster acted like a "common bully."
However, PAFE said, "Drag queens have had a self-induced negative spotlight shone on them in recent years due to their bizarre interest in performing and interacting with children. In B.C., a teacher read her kindergarten class a drag queen story book in place of teaching the traditional ABC’s. Various videos and photos have circled the internet of young children allegedly offering dollar bills to drag queens while the adults cheer and clap."
PAFE provided a link to a 2019 video where children handed bills to a drag queen at a public library. PAFE provided another link, this one to a 2022 Western Standard article, where a 7-year-old is tipping a drag performer in a thong. These links are embedded below.
Pflag Canada, a national LGBTQ organization was pushing the Toronto District School Board to REMOVE their current “opt-out” policy for parents who don’t want their children to participate in school-related drag events. However, the board stood firm in its refusal.
PAFE wrotes, "None of this is appropriate, and if speaking out against it lands you with a $380,000 fine, where does that leave us?
"Is this the death knell of free speech in Canada? If citizens are being threatened and potentially bankrupted with legal costs and fines, how do we speak out for decency and common sense in Canada?"