Ferndale Drag Show Canceled After ‘Beware’ Sign at Local Church Prompts Concerns About Extremist Response | Lost Coast Outpost

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Ferndale’s planned drag show has been cancelled due to fears of extremist backlash. A sign posted by a conservative church in the town warning about the event was placed on its public-facing signage.

Photo via Facebook

The all-ages “Roaring ‘20s Drag Event” was supposed to be a fundraiser for Lost Coast Pride, a nonprofit organization created two years ago in response to an anti-LGBTQ message posted on a sign outside St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

Kaelan Rivera is a disabled Navy veteran, queer trans man, and founder/executive Director of Lost Coast Pride. He has also helped organize the first two Pride marches in Ferndale. In a telephone conversation, he stated that the drag show would have raised funds to install the third installment of the event. This serves as both celebration of discrimination and protest.

The show was arranged by Paul Beatie, Cheri March and The Old Steeple. They own and operate Ferndale Music Company, which is a live music venue located in the former Methodist church near Ferndale Cemetery. 

“Paul and Cheri reached out and said, ‘Hey, you can use the Steeple as a venue,’” Rivera said. “Paul did the PA system for last Pride festival [in Ferndale], so they’re very supportive of the LGBTQ community.”

Together they decided to hold the event on the first weekend in February, and Rivera was in the process of planing the event — making fliers, gathering contributions from people in town, etc. — when things took a turn.

“Paul and Cheri got a hold of me and said, ‘Have you seen the sign?’” Rivera said.

Bramwell is seen outside his church during 2021 Pride march at Ferndale. | File photo.

St. Mark’s, led by controversial Pastor Tyrel Bramwell, had posted a new message on the illuminated sign standing at the corner of Fern Avenue and Berning Street. “BEWARE,” it read in all caps, “DRAG SHOW FOR KIDS COMING TO THE OLD STEEPLE.”

Photos of the sign were posted to social media, including the Ferndale Community Page on Facebook, and while the vast majority of responses condemned the sign’s message, calling it an example of hatred, bigotry and bullying, word about the event continued to spread. Some of these responses were disturbing.

Beatie March and March shared their thoughts in an emailed statement. Outpost that they made the painful decision to cancel the event “out of an abundance of caution” after being alerted to online blowback.

“Friends and customers reached out to us regarding threatening Facebook messages that pointed to the possibility of extremists attending the event to disrupt it,” the statement from Beatie and March reads. When asked for details or screenshots, they replied that the incriminating post had been removed.

In a follow up call, Beatie said he’d been alerted to a comment on Facebook asking for the names and addresses of organizers. “We flagged that post and it was removed,” he said, adding that Rivera and Lost Coast Pride still have his support.

Violence and disruptions at drag shows have become increasingly common across the country, especially after last year’s shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., which left five people dead and at least 17 others injured. Right-wing media outlets and politicians stoke anti-LGBTQ hatred and violence with unfounded claims that drag shows serve as “grooming” events where sexual predators ensnare helpless children. 

Rivera thinks that’s ridiculous. 

“You know the show ‘To Catch a Predator’?” he asked. “You notice that you never saw a drag queen on there? Men of the cloth and men of faith were busted for trying to have sex with minors. [but] I’ve never seen a drag queen ever prosecuted.”

He said the Lost Coast Pride event was going to be an all-ages show, not a “drag show for kids.”

“Drag is performing,” Rivera said. “It is a performance; it is a show; it is an inspiration. … Those are the things that drag is about. It’s about freedom; it’s about being yourself [and] it’s about entertainment.”

He claimed that it was certain. These are Drag shows for adults, in which the content is more explicitly sexual, however, the event he planned would have been suitable for all ages.

Bramwell’s contributions to KINS, a local right-wing talk radio station, were cancelled because they were too incendiary. Bramwell recently spoke out about some common fear-mongering messages in an online video. Speaking about the recent all-ages drag show held at the Jefferson Community Center, Bramwell claimed the event served to facilitate “grooming, indoctrination [and] desensitization to perversion and evil.”

“The devil was on the prowl at this event and he is devouring [children’s] souls,” Bramwell says in the video.

Bramwell reached out to Bramwell by telephone on Tuesday. He stood by the comments and stated that the message on his church sign was a valid warning.

“That kids should be invited to such a thing definitely goes against scripture,” he said. “We’re really wanting to protect children from the indoctrination happening by exposure to performance art that historically was for gay men, behind closed doors.”

Bramwell said drag shows represent a “rejection of God’s order,” namely that there are only two genders, male and female. 

“We’re definitely trying to push back against the lie that’s being promoted today … that there are more than two genders and that it’s okay to support the confusion a person may be going through by advocating falsehoods … .”

Beatie and March stated in an emailed message that they had reached out to Bramwell to try to find a compromise. Here’s their full statement:

We had to cancel the show because we were too cautious. 

It’s something we didn’t expect to happen. As owners of The Old Steeple, our mission is to create a safe space for everyone in our community. Lost Coast Pride members are our neighbors and friends, and the dragshow was part of an event and vendor fair that was open for all ages. Contrary to St. Mark’s Church’s deliberately sensational sign, it was not a “drag show for kids.” 

We first reached out to Tyrel Bramwell to ask him to meet us in person. We requested that he remove the sign or alter it so that there was no insinuation that this show was for children. He refused to do so unless we required Lost Coast Pride to make their show adults only, at which point he would remove “kids” but still call us out by name for having a drag show. 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 were also buoyed by the support of the Ferndale community. Most of them are kind and loving people.

However, by the close of the day, the discontent began to creep in. Friends and customers reached us with concerns about threats posted on Facebook that indicated extremists might be disrupting the event. As parents and community members, it’s our responsibility to keep our community safe. Our children take music lessons in our building. 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 support Lost Coast Pride and LGBTQ+ and hope to continue working together in the future. We are disappointed, but we want to use this time to reflect and regroup so we can continue our inclusive mission. Photo by Andrew Goff.

Cheri & Paul

As of today, the sign outside St. Mark’s had been updated:

“I’m so frustrated,” Rivera said, though he added that he understands the decision made by Beatie and March. “It’s amazing to me that there’s like 20 people in this town and everybody kowtows to them. … I don’t understand how we’ve let one man and one church spew so much hate — which is why we have a Pride march, because it’s crap.”

Rivera said he’s still hoping to hold the drag event and is working with other Ferndale residents to locate another venue. 

“I would like to keep it here in town,” he said. “Maybe the fairgrounds.” He’s hopeful that another business might reach out “if somebody is wiling to take that risk — and I know it’s a risk,” he said.