Canadian Court Rules “Groomer” To Be Defamatory

The Canadian LGBTQ rights group Egale writes:

On December 14, 2023, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decided in Rainbow Alliance Dryden et al. v. Webster to allow a defamation suit by a drag performer and a 2SLGBTQI community organization against an individual who publicly called them “groomers” to continue to trial.

In doing so, the court ruled that there is no public interest in protecting baseless accusations of child sexual abuse against 2SLGBTQI people.

The court relied on Egale Canada’s intervention to affirm the exact opposite: Because false accusations of pedophilia have been weaponized against 2SLGBTQI people to deny members of our communities equal rights and opportunities for decades, the law must allow people being targeted by these homophobic and transphobic myths to pursue defamation claims.

The facts of this case occurred in Dryden, Ontario. Brian Webster runs a Facebook page and referred to a drag performer and a local 2SLGBTQI community organization, Rainbow Alliance Dryden (RAD), as “groomers”. In response, the performer and RAD are suing Webster for defamation.

The Facebook post includes screenshots of a news article about a planned all-ages drag event, including the performers’ names and faces. Horrifying comments were left under the post, including violent threats against the drag performers. Also, placards linking all-ages drag performances to pedophilia were hung up in public places around Dryden.

Read the full press release.

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