Court awards $380K to pride organization, drag performers in northwestern Ontario defamation suit
Superior Court justice calls blogger's behaviour that of a 'common bully'
A blogger in Thunder Bay, Ont., has been ordered by Ontario's Superior Court of Justice to pay $380,000 in damages, after making Facebook posts in 2022 accusing drag performers of grooming children.
The judgment was made on two separate, related libel cases, and was issued Thursday by Justice Helen M. Pierce after being heard in the northwestern Ontario city on Jan. 31 via ZOOM.
The cases relate to Facebook posts made in September 2022 and December 2022 by blogger Brian Webster on a page called "Real Thunder Bay Courthouse – Inside Edition." The page is no longer active.
The first post references CBC News coverage of an upcoming drag event in Dryden, which was then cancelled following an unfounded prank call. Sharing screenshots of the news story, Webster 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." No such charges were laid.
In her decision, Pierce describes Webster's behaviour as that of a "common bully."
"There is a pattern of homophobic/transphobic conduct by the defendant's publication, both before and after the offending posts," Pierce said in court documents obtained by CBC News.
The plaintiffs include the organization Rainbow Alliance Dryden and drag performers Caitlin Hartlen, Felicia Crichton and John-Marcel Forget. They were represented by Douglas Judson and Peter Howie of Judson Howie LLP in Fort Frances.
"My first reaction was tears. I just cried a whole bunch," said Forget, who has been performing drag for more than 20 years as Lady Fantasia LaPremiere, of the court's decision.
"Just knowing that we were doing something that could potentially make it easier for other people to stand up for themselves and to maybe make it so that people would think twice before posting untruths about people that they don't like — especially people that they don't even know."
Fighting against rhetoric, discrimination
The Facebook posts were not the only attacks on drag storytime events in the region; two separate bomb threats were made against the Thunder Bay Public Library last year ahead of Storytime with Thunder Bay Drag Queens.
"I just always thought 'if you don't like storytime with drag queens, don't come to storytime with drag queens,'" Forget said.
"I'm not a huge fan of sports and hockey, but you don't see me bashing people who are interested in that; I just don't go to hockey games."
Judson, who is one of the directors of Borderland Pride, called the court's judgment a "landmark decision."
"I think it's coming at a really important time for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, which is very much under political assault from the right, right now in Canada and in the United States," Judson said. "I think that it's a good reminder that we have legal tools, especially here in Canada, to protect vulnerable minorities."
While "groomer rhetoric" has a long history as a slur targeting 2SLGBTQIA+ people, Judson said, "the false allegation that people are engaging in sexual impropriety or are pedophiles, it is patently defamatory."
His hope is that the judgment sends a message to people in northwestern Ontario that they can be held accountable for their actions on social media, even if they post anonymously.
Forget has been the target of bullying for much of his life, and said going through the court process triggered a lot of heavy emotions.
"Just constantly having to defend my existence, it kind of started to wear on my mental health a little bit," he said. "Standing up for yourself is never really easy, but it's always worth it."
He said he wants others in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to know they're not alone.
"There are people out there who are fighting for your right to just live the way you want to live and love the way you want to love."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Jonathan Pinto