Rainbow Alliance Dryden et al.
v. Webster
Intervening to support 2SLGBTQI people and drag performers fight baseless accusations of child abuse.
Note: This page contains mentions of child sexual abuse.
Jump to: Introduction | Background | Our Legal Arguments | Case Outcome | Documents
Introduction: The context of baseless accusations of child abuse against 2SLGBTQI people
The homophobic and transphobic equation of 2SLGBTQI people and allies with child abusers and pedophiles has been used to stoke fear and hatred against our communities for decades. In recent years, hateful groups have increasingly targeted family-friendly drag performances with the baseless accusation that drag performances constitute grooming children for sexual abuse. The correct use of the word “grooming” refers to practices by which sexual abusers gain access to victims, usually children and youth, and coerce and manipulate them to facilitate sexual abuse. That means that when hateful groups call drag performers and other 2SLGBTQI people “groomers,” they are accusing them of child sexual abuse. As a result, the word “groomer,” when used against 2SLGBTQI people, has come to function as a slur – a hateful word meant to attack the humanity of the person and group it targets.
Egale has tracked thousands of incidents of hate against 2SLGBTQI people in Canada. Most of these took place online and many involved accusations of grooming. US data by the Human Rights Campaign and the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows that in 2023, online accusations of child grooming against 2SLGBTQI people skyrocketed after prominent US politicians used this malicious and dangerous narrative to support anti-trans legislation.
Quick Facts
Case Status: Anti-Slapp decision released
Case Name: Rainbow Alliance Dryden et al. v. Webster
Court: Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Egale’s Role: Intervener
Representation: Daniel Girlando, Natalie D. Kolos, and Lauren L. Malatesta of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Case Background
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”. The post includes screenshots of a news article about a planned all-ages drag event that include 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.
In response, the performer and RAD are suing Webster for defamation.
Webster applied to the court to have the lawsuit against him dismissed as a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” (SLAPP). A successful anti-SLAPP application would have meant that the case was dismissed and did not go to trial.
Our Legal Arguments and What We’re Fighting For
Egale intervened to provide the court with the necessary context to understand the impact of accusations of child grooming and sexual abuse against 2SLGBTQI people, specifically in the context of the marginalization of 2SLGBTQI people in Canada. Our arguments helped support the court’s decision to deny the anti-SLAPP motion and allow the case to proceed to trial.
Relying on the Supreme Court of Canada’s (SCC) decision in Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) v. Whatcott (2013), our intervention laid out that the equation of 2SLGBTQI people with child abusers exposes 2SLGBTQI people to hatred. We also noted the SCC’s recent recognition in Hansman v. Neufeld (2023) that trans and gender nonconforming people are among the “most marginalized in our society.” We further explained that drag is an important part of 2SLGBTQI identity and culture.
We then made two arguments: first, that the “fair comment” defence was not available in these circumstances. This defence is supposed to ensure that a person can’t be held liable for expressing their honest opinion, based on proved facts, and without malice. We argued that calling a specific group of 2SLGBTQI people “groomers” is not an opinion, but a (false) claim of fact, because it is an accusation of criminal conduct that can easily be disproven. Moreover, the historical context of the homophobic and transphobic accusation of child abuse and the complete lack of a factual basis for the claim that drag performances are related to child abuse are evidence that this claim was made with a reckless disregard for the truth, which counts as malice.
Our second argument was that there is no public interest – meaning what’s best for people in Canada as a whole – in protecting baseless homophobic and transphobic accusations of child abuse against 2SLGBTQI people. In an anti-SLAPP motion, the court has to decide whether the public interest in protecting the expression for which a person is being sued for defamation outweighs the likely harm suffered by the person who is suing. The SCC has held that courts must take into account whether the expression could provoke hostility against a marginalized group, including 2SLGBTQI people. In that case, there is less public interest in protecting the expression. In this case, significant harm has been caused, and that harm by far outweighs the public interest in protecting malicious accusations of child abuse against 2SLGBTQI people.
Case Outcome
Webster applied to the court to have the defamation suit against him dismissed before it reached the trial stage based on anti-SLAPP legislation. Anti-SLAPP (SLAPP stands for “strategic litigation against public participation”) legislation allows courts to dismiss lawsuits that are brought to silence or intimidate against valid speech, such as expressing opinions or addressing something that is in the public interest. The court declined to dismiss the lawsuit because, as Egale explained in our intervention, baselessly accusing drag performers of child abuse is not a matter of opinion nor one of public interest. That means that the defamation case can continue to trial.
Supporting Documents
Legal Documents
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