It was at a Boston Pizza on a sunny December afternoon in Hamilton where Canada’s cultural and political divide came to life in stark and venomous terms.
Inside, a brunch crowd cheered for drag performer Crystal Quartz, who strutted the aisles in a Tina Turner-inspired sparkling silver dress draped with an ebony ruffle coat, lipsyncing to Gloria Gaynor’s anthem, “I Will Survive.”
But outside, in the Barton Street East restaurant’s parking lot, there was no such mirth. Watched by a cordon of Hamilton police officers wearing bright yellow safety vests, “freedom” convoy protesters waved F--k Trudeau flags and yelled about a grim doom they believe drag queens are visiting upon children.
“They can’t breed!” screamed Chrystal Peters, one of the ringleaders of protests travelling around Ontario, targeting all-ages events featuring drag performers. “That’s why they are trying to get everyone else’s kids!”
The protests, replete with homophobic conspiracy theories of child grooming and sexual abuse, have hit two drag events in Hamilton. They’ve also targeted events in Welland, Fort Erie, Guelph, Kingston, Kitchener, Gravenhurst and Brockville in the last month. They promise to target more shows in other cities.
A drag storytime for kids and parents at a Brockville library on Dec. 17 was greeted with an arson attempt and bomb threat as well as demonstrations.
And The Spectator has learned a network...
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WSMV) - A Tennessee doctor has pleaded guilty to committing millions of dollars’ worth of Medicare fraud through her Brentwood optometry practice. Helen Boerman, 48, pleaded guilt...