Members of the Prince George LGBTQ+ community in Prince George say they are shocked and saddened by Lambda Cabaret’s defiance of provincial health orders.
The nightspot, which has been known as an LGBTQ-friendly bar, has been issued a closure for non-compliance by Northern Health.
Lambda opened its doors on the weekend of Feb. 6 and posted of maskless patrons dancing on its Facebook Page while also commenting support for the so-called Freedom Convoy.
“I was mostly shocked but also angry just because the defiance of the health order puts the community at risk,” said Alex Wagstaffe, a Prince George resident and post-secondary instructor.
Wagstaffe has been going to Lambda for more than 10 years and until recently considered themselves friends with the bar’s owner Linda Wolf.
“I have been going to Lambda for a long time and it was a safe space at one point, but it has changed over the years.”
They said Lambda was once a place mostly frequented by the LGBTQ+ community where people could be themselves as queer people.
“It has slowly been becoming a less safe space over the years, but this sudden schism has made a lot of us really, really, shocked and angry.”
Wagstaffe said they are also uncomfortable with Lambda expressing support for the Freedom Convoy as the protests in Ottawa have been associated with the waving of Nazi and Confederate flags.
“I don't want to support somebody who would put the community at risk and also support a movement that has also been known to have white supremacist ties.”
Wagstaffe said they want to make it clear the queer community is not complicit in Lambda’s actions.
They said many comments from members of the LGBTQ+ community who were speaking-out against the bar's actions have been removed from Lambda’s Facebook page.
“I don't think I can trust it to be a safe space anymore. I know a lot of people will not go there, and that the people who will go are not people that we want to associate with just because as we might be in danger from them.”
Laura Binette, who is the chairman for the Prince George Queer Café, also said the actions of Lambda are not representative of the queer community.
“I actually had to close my business shortly after the pandemic began, so I do kind of have a heart for businesses that have been affected by it but at the same time it's I think it's really irresponsible,” said Binette.
"That bar has become more and more distanced from the queer community for a long time. Like originally it was for the LGBTQ community and now moving on it's really opened up to be more for the broader community than it is for the queer community.”
Binette said that the heart of the LGBTQ community in Prince George is really the smaller community groups like Pride, Queer Café, or Gender Outlines.
“Essentially Lambda is just a bar that flies a rainbow flag sometimes,” said Binette.
“It is just a stand-alone business, right? And when you're really looking at any marginalized community, it's the boots-to-the ground organizations that are really the heartbeat of that community.”
Speaking during a teleconference on Wednesday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also spoke out about the Lambda defying the health orders.
Henry called the move a "slap in the face to some of the health care workers who have been working so hard for so long."
"What we need to do is continue to work together, so that we can put this behind us for once and for all," Henry added.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said there are no rights without responsibilities and that he is proud of the people who've gotten vaccinated and noted that 93.2 per cent have gotten the vaccine.
The sign posted on Lambda’s main entrance states that it will not be enforcing COVID passports or requiring patrons to wear masks and cites a handful of pieces of irrelevant legislation.
Establishments that do not offer full meal service like bars, nightclubs and lounges have been ordered to close since late December, although Henry previously has said restrictions could be eased by as soon as the Family Day long weekend if the number of COVID patients in B.C. hospitals subsides.
The provincial health officer also has the ability to recommend charges in relation to offenses if violation tickets do not act as a deterrent, or in cases of particularly egregious contraventions or for repeat offenders.
On conviction, judicial penalties of up to $10,000 and/or one year in prison may be imposed.
The Prince George Citizen has reached out to Lambda owner Linda Wolf who was unable to be contacted.
- with files from Mark Nielsen
