Paul and Cheri
Beatie, owners of the Old Steeple and Ferndale Music Co., had never had to
cancel an event out of concern for violence. But after Pastor Tyrel Bramwell of
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Ferndale recently posted the message, “Beware drag
show for kids coming to the Old Steeple” on the church’s marquee, canceling the
family-friendly event is what they felt they had to do.
The all-ages
Lost Coast Pride fundraiser titled “Dragging Through Time” had not even been
publicized yet. “As soon as we knew the [church’s] sign was up, we went
directly to [Bramwell] and asked that the sign be taken down and he refused. He
said if we convinced the organizers to say 18 and over, he would take down the
word kids,” says Paul Beatie. It wasn’t a surprise, as Bramwell has grabbed
attention with a number of overtly bigoted signs at the church. In an email
announcement about the show, the Beaties say, “We agreed to disagree, and at this point, we decided to
proceed with the event and ‘turn the other cheek’ — basically, to ignore the
bully. We also felt buoyed by support from the majority of the Ferndale
community, most of whom are very reasonable, loving people.”
Ferndale Police Chief Ron Sligh says he wasn’t particularly concerned about safety at
the drag show. “I
mean, I have concerns on every event,” he says, noting he works out security
plans for the county fair, for example, but doesn’t get involved in private
venues beyond ABC permits for serving alcohol. The sign at St. Mark’s framing
the event as dangerous was “something I thought about because it seemed there
was potential for some concern, but I didn’t talk with anybody about it. … If I
get some information that there may be a counterprotest or something, I’m
concerned. If I hear something like that … I’ll want to be as prepared as I can
be.”
Sligh
says, “Our main focus is to protect people’s safety and their rights. … We’re
often between two groups.” He says he recalls working with that goal during
protests and standoffs between loggers and environmentalists during the Timber
Wars. “I want people to exercise their rights and to do it safely within the
law,” he says. “The sign, you know, it’s freedom of speech … just as the people who want to have the drag
show have their rights.”
Ferndale
Mayor Randall Cady wasn’t worried when he heard about the drag show and the
church sign, either. “But I didn’t have all
the information until after it was canceled,” he says. Even then, he says, he
doesn’t see much possibility of violence. “I don’t think we have that kind of
issues in Ferndale. And we have an excellent police department and Chief Sligh
would be out there to make sure there was no violence.”
Asked for his view on the show and the
anti-LGBTQ+ sign, Cady says, “I’m in a position where I’m danged if I do danged
if I don’t, saying something. I think people can blow things out of proportion.
I think the steeple did the right thing by canceling the show for the sake of
safety … Would I go to that show? No, it’s not my thing. But if I don’t wanna
go, I don’t buy a ticket.” He also notes that parents are “in control of their children. If
parents don’t want their kids to go, they won’t let ’em. That’s
what being a parent is.” Cady hasn’t spoken to
the Beaties or Bramwell about the sign. “I
don’t approve of some of the things [Bramwell] says but, you know, it’s a free
country.”
By the evening
of Monday, Jan. 9, Beatie says, “We got several messages and calls. One was
from a parent of a student who takes lessons here. And they were concerned for
our safety.”
Beatie says a
Facebook post about the show drew some disturbing comments, including requests
for participants’ home addresses and people opposed to the
show saying they would attend and video the event. While there were no overt
threats of violence, he says, “In the context of what’s been going on locally
and what’s been going on in the country, boy, it’s not a big step, is it?” Beatie
says the recent violent attacks on LGBTQ+ venues and people elsewhere in the country
and the shouting, menace and intimidation from protesters of Redwood Pride’s
Eureka Halloween event have set frightening precedent.
The Beaties
reached out to Kaelan Rivera, the founder of Lost Coast Pride. “I basically
said, ‘We feel like we need to pull the plug on this because if this is the
kind of blowback we’re getting before the event is even publicized, we’re not
prepared to deal with this,’” recalls Beatie, adding, “I wish we were.”
But the Beaties
aren’t only concerned about possible violence at the event, but against their
family and children.
Rivera, a queer
trans man and U.S. Navy veteran who and also goes by Papa K, says he
understands the Beaties’ position. “I’m completely understanding. Paul and
Cheri are wonderful people and the fact that they opened up their venue was
phenomenal.” The show, which had a time-travel theme, had been in the planning
since October to raise funds “so that we can continue to have our Pride March,
which is a protest, and our Pride Festival afterward, which is a celebration.”
Rivera says he understands the concern for safety, particularly as a disabled
trans person. But all-ages shows are worth it to him. “Children and adults and
parents need to see that there is a huge spectrum of humanity and kids are a
part of that.”
The Beaties’
announcement of the cancelation strikes a hopeful note, too: “As parents and community members, it’s
our responsibility to keep our community safe. Children take music lessons at
our building, and their safety is paramount. We don’t know that this is the ‘right’
decision but it feels like the prudent decision, and personally that’s what is
right for our family. We continue to support Lost Coast Pride and the LGBTQ+
community and would like to work together in the future.”
If another show
is organized in Ferndale, Cady is confident the town will be welcoming. “We
have LGBTQ people who live in Ferndale and they’re just normal citizens in
Ferndale and that’s how they’re treated. And that’s how they treat everyone
else.”
Rivera is
hopeful about a future show, if more cautious. He’s talking with friends about
helping him install security cameras at his home, noting his additional vulnerability
as a trans man who’s disabled. Despite his own safety concerns, putting on
family-friendly shows and making space for LGBTQ+ people is important to him.
“People seem to
think that you pop up as an adult as queer. You don’t. … You grow up having to
live this heteronormative idea and it’s a false idea,” he says. “Humans have
the capacity for all sort of feelings and thoughts.”
This article appears in ‘Still Downhill’.
My understanding of law enforcement behavior during the timber wars was that protesters were left intentionally stranded in rural areas with no way to get to food, water, or shelter other than walking miles, possibly tens of miles. My understanding is that a county investigator assisted a logger in his testimony so that the logger might not be charged with murder, after the logger had killed a protester by intentionally falling a tree on the protester after shouting “I’ll kill you” or something similar. In more recent years, the county’s sheriff expressed concern about non-existent antifa buses rather than right wing terrorists. So the Ferndale mayor’s confidence in local law enforcement doesn’t strike me as something that can be relied upon.
If you feel strongly about this (as we do) you can make a donation via Queer Humboldt, a registered charity.
Hey Robert, IMHO, Bramwell’s sign “Beware drag show for kids coming to the Old Steeple” is hate speech. Does that make me “objectively immoral”?
Hi Barry, been awhile. What is hateful about it?
Barry, apart from a good bit of open dialog as to why you think it hateful, and why myself and others think it loving to warn the community, evoking thought about where we are as a culture, and whether or not to continue in silence as the goal posts are moved pretty radically, I am not prepared to judge you.
What I AM saying is that if it can be skown logically and evidentially that pastor Bramwell is in fact acting out of love for his community, then characterizing his speech as hate is bearing false witness. It is begging the question. Beyond that, there are nuances to consider. Is it done intentionally or in honest ignorance? In either case it is objectively immoral.
My intent is not to label others as mischaracterizing. I prefer to let them do the labeling. My intent is to encourage everyone to actually think about what is going on here.
St. Mark’s is NOT the Westboro Baptist Church. We don’t hold signs that say GOD HATES FAGS. That is the stereotype that is promoted by dismissing pastor Bramwell’s signs as mere hate. It cuts off the needed dialog as effectively as the Westboro Baptists. Fight fire with fire. I am uninterested in fire in either case.
Unfortunately these political maneuvers have become the norm in attempting to coerce and pressure people to conform, rather than allowing persuasion to occur rightly through dialog. Is anyone interested in that any longer?
A woman who is a neighbor near the church came and expressed that she was religious, but disgusted by the messages on the sign. She was quite sincere so far as I could tell, and spoke with thhe pastor respectfully. She thought it was hateful and offensive, but when kindly asked to elaborate, she could not explain why the messages were actually hateful. I doubt you are in a better position Barry.
She boiled it down to shaming people. I interrupted them to ask her if she was now also shaming the pastor? She realized the difficulty, exasperated. But I’m glad she said her peace freely. If she is objectively correct, then it doesn’t matter if we feel offended or attacked. Our position needs to change. But is she? That will require taking these things seriously and talking about what constitutes objective truth and the implications. I’m game!