Canadian Blogger Ordered to Pay $380K For Calling ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ Hosts ‘Groomers’ on Facebook
An Ontario man who called a trio of ‘drag queen story hour’ performers “groomers” has been ordered to pay them $380,000 in restitution, in a landmark decision that will shape anti-LGBTQ speech in Canada for years to come.
Three years ago, Brian Webster, who ran a Facebook page in Thunder Bay, Ontario, saw an article in the CBC about an upcoming ‘drag queen story hour.’ Commenting on a story, Webster wrote:
TAXPAYER FUNDED CBC REPORTER JON THOMPSON HAS AN AGENDA TO PROMOTE.
ASK YOURSELF WHY THESE PEOPLE NEED TO PERFORM FOR CHILDREN?
GROOMERS. That’s the agenda. Just look at the face of the one child in the photo. Tells you all you need to know.
Your tax dollars pay Jon Thompson to promote this stuff.
#DefundCBC
Commenters to his post responded with, “It’s a mental illness that’s been allowed and enabled for far too long…WHY do these deranged people insist on ‘reading for children’….F* off with your bs you f*ing pedophiles.” and “It is all about G[r]ooming our Children.”
According to court documents: “Webster positively reinforced by reacting with “likes” or laughing-face emojis.”
The performers featured in the article sued for defamation over the suggestion that they were involved in pedophilia.
And they won.
Thunder Bay Superior Court Justice Helen Pierce wrote in her judgement:
“The defendant intended to smear the reputations of the individual plaintiffs and RAD with the message that they used their drag queen/king persona and activities to groom children for sexual abuse.
There could hardly be a more damning message than that, spread across the internet. The message was clearly understood by Mr. Webster’s readership: he called the plaintiffs pedophiles.”
Commenting on the ruling, Felicia Crichton, one of the performer, was ecstatic, warning:
“I want them to know that they need to be afraid to be bigots again, because we’re tired of it. They seem to believe that there were glory days when they were allowed to believe this with absolutely no recourse. And I think that the only truth in that is that there was a time when social media didn’t connect us so quickly, and it wasn’t so easy to have a paper trail of everything that you’ve said. There are receipts now.”
About Author
How dare he call godless, pervert groomers ‘groomers…’
Canada so sucks.