Canada
Libs of TikTok extremist group attacks Canadian LGBTQ youth center
OutLoud North Bay Center received death threats
The LGBTQ youth center in North Bay, a quiet city located about three hours north of Toronto, is currently under siege with death threats and extremist anti-LGBTQ bullying. In fact the flow of hate washing over this small center is a virtual tsunami.
The striking aspect to all of this ugly vitriol is that a massive percentage is coming from online, in text, voice mail messages and comments left on the center’s social media accounts from outside of Canada.
CTV Northern Ontario journalist Eric Taschner reported Friday that the catalyst was a post two days earlier by the right-wing anti-LGBTQ Libs of TikTok social media accounts that contained the announcement by OutLoud North Bay Center for its scheduled youth drag show, slated for July 15.
What happened next was beyond shocking, Taschner told the Washington Blade in a phone call Saturday afternoon. In fact the hateful actions by the outside sources has involved the North Bay Police Service and badly scared the center’s youth as well as overwhelmed its director, Seth Compton.
Speaking to CTV Northern Ontario, Compton said his staff and even youth who attend the space have been targeted.
“I got up at 4 a.m. to thousands of emails, tweets, messages on social media platforms that were so discriminatory and full of hate,” Compton said Friday, fighting back tears. “The average person wouldn’t be able to bear that … never in my 47 years have I ever experienced this.”
The messages and comments include a range of obscene accusations and comments, he said.
“People are sharing my personal photo saying I’m a pedophile and adults here should be tossed into a wood chipper,” Compton said. “Kids have received messages that they’re groomed and parents have received messages that they’re child abusers.”
Compton briefly texted with the Blade Saturday noting: “I can send you our media release. Now that I’ve had a minute. I don’t know if I can add to what took place yesterday. I’m emotionally broken. I am an advocate but I’m human too and need a minute. I’m afraid to draw any more attention, because ‘Libs of TikTok’ have seemed to move on to something new. The hate and harassment hasn’t stopped but I couldn’t handle a second wave of hate to that extent. My focus moving forward is the kids. We need to keep them safe.”
CTV’s Taschner told the Blade that the levels of animosity and the hate expressed were unlike any seen prior and noted that there were hate-filled ugly posts from nations way beyond even the U.S.
Earlier this spring, the Washington Post’s reporter Taylor Lorenz confirmed that Chaya Raichik is behind formerly anonymous ‘Libs of TikTok.’ The influential anti-LGBTQ account has has been trademarked as a “news reporter service” by a Republican operative, although the Post notes that “Raichik has claimed to run the account alone.”
In a profile written by Slate magazine’s Jeremy Stahl, reported that Raichik, a Brooklyn, N.Y., real estate agent, “has become a powerful voice in the culture wars, pushing discourse designed to demonize supporters of LGBTQ rights as sexually predatory ‘groomers’ of children.”
The account has been promoted by podcast host Joe Rogan, it’s been featured in the New York Post, the Federalist, the Post Millennial and a slew of other right-wing news sites. Meghan McCain has retweeted it. The online influencer Glenn Greenwald has amplified it to his 1.8 million Twitter followers while calling himself the account’s “Godfather.”
Last April, Raichik appeared anonymously on Tucker Carlson’s show to complain about being temporarily suspended for violating Twitter’s community guidelines. Fox News often creates news packages around the content that “Libs of TikTok” has surfaced.
Slate also noted in its piece that Raichik has also made a name for herself by helping to blow up fights within school systems and among teachers and students, even getting a number of teachers removed from their jobs.
More problematic however is that Raichik is inspiring a virtual army of anti-LGBTQ adherents including the white supremacist group, the Proud Boys, to take direct action against these events. Over the course of this past Pride Month alone, the Proud Boys have disrupted more than 10 LGBTQ events ranging from drag queen story hours to Pride events.
In a column a week ago, Blade columnist James Finn pointed out that the Proud Boys have particularly targeted family Pride events, succeeding in having several postponed or cancelled through acts of disruption designed to sow fear and even terror.
In one highly publicized incident in the Northern California city of Woodland, the Proud Boys attempted to enter a bar and restaurant hosting an all-ages drag show. However, their efforts were stymied by bar patrons who defended the entrance and pepper-sprayed the white supremacists.
“Fuck you, pedophile motherfuckers!” shouted the masked man as patrons of the Mojo Lounge pepper sprayed him to stop him and other members of the Proud Boys from forcing their way inside.
Canada’s public safety minister, Bill Blair, in February 2021 announced the addition of the Proud Boys, an organization founded in 2016 by a Canadian living in the U.S and two neo-Nazi networks, Atomwaffen and The Base, to Canada’s terror entity list.
While the Proud Boys has not been identified as a component entity of the attack on the North Bay OutLoud youth center, a senior FBI source told the Blade Saturday evening that “it was highly likely-in fact probable, that individuals who are either members of the the Proud Boys or affiliated in some way are involved.”
Back in Northern Ontario, OutLoud staff and the community continue to scramble to create a buffer and a safety zone for their kids CTV reported.
North Bay Pride CEO Jocelyn Green said the organization is working with OutLoud to support the staff and youth in the city.
“I’m absolutely abhorred and disgusted,” Green said. “I can’t believe this kind of hate still exists. It’s like we’ve gone backwards in time.”
Compton is calling on the community for its support during this troubling time.
“We need to come together as a community because this is something that not only happens worldwide,” he said. “It’s happening right here in our community.”
The local police service is actively investigating the tsunami of hate speech and ugly homophobic diatribes CTV’s Taschner told the Blade.
North Bay Police Service Inspector Jeff Warner told reporters in a briefing that police officials are “aware of the offensive and hateful comments OutLoud has received via social media” and that his department is “deploying resources.”
“We are going to watch the comments and if any of them cross the line into criminal activity we will act for sure.”
Warner was asked what that line would be.
“If comments or actions turn into what is chosen a hate crime for a designated group in the community, we take those investigations very seriously. We will investigate those thoroughly,” he said.
The most prominent slurs center on accusations that LGBTQ people and their allies are pedophiles, using the word “grooming,” which the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children defines as when “someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.”
The term has been weaponized online, and it now appears almost constantly on many social media platforms. Data from the social media platform Reddit analyzed by Jeremy Blackburn, an assistant professor of computer science at Binghamton University in New York who studies online extremism, found about a 100 percent increase since the beginning of the year in discussion of “grooming” in conjunction with various LGBTQ slurs starting in early March and accelerating in mid-to-late March.
Inspector Warner was also asked by reporters how hard it would be to find the sender of these messages.
“When it is online activity, they are difficult to investigate. They are not impossible — we do have resources and we can liaison with other policing agencies that have the expertise in tracking down where some of these comments originate.”
Warner then voiced his displeasure over the youth center being a target of hate.
“It is disappointing. OutLoud has been supporting the youth in the community since 2019. It is a safe place for the youth to go. OutLoud is committed to the mental health and well-being of the youth in the community. It is just disappointing to see the hateful, hurtful comments directed towards the youth.”
Watch CTV Northern Ontario’s story here.
Canada
Shooter who killed 7 people inside Canada school was transgender
Advocacy groups have condemned efforts to link trans people to mass shootings
Canadian authorities on Wednesday said the person who killed seven people and injured more than two dozen others at a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, the day before was transgender.
Dwayne McDonald, the deputy commissioner for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, during a press conference said Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, “was born as a biological male who approximately … six years ago began to transition as female and identified as female both socially and publicly.” McDonald added it is “too early to say whether” the shooter’s gender identity “has any correlation in this investigation.”
The shooter died by suicide, and authorities found her body inside the school.
“We have a history of police attendance at the family residence,” said McDonald. “Some of those calls were related to mental health issues.”
Egale Canada, the country’s LGBTQ and intersex rights group, on Wednesday said it is “heartbroken by the horrific shooting in Tumbler Ridge.”
“Our deepest condolences are with the victims, their families, and the entire community as they navigate unimaginable grief,” said the group in a statement. “We unequivocally condemn this act of violence. There is no place for violence in our schools or in our communities. At this profoundly difficult time, we hold the people of Tumbler Ridge in our thoughts and stand in solidarity with all those affected.”
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, unlike in the U.S.
GLAAD notes statistics from the Gun Violence Archive that indicate trans people carried out less than 0.1 percent of the 5,748 mass shootings in the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2013, and Sept. 15, 2025. The Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and other advocacy groups last August condemned efforts to scapegoat the community after a trans woman shot and killed two children and injured 17 others inside the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
Canada
Montreal Pride parade organizers reverse ban on Jewish groups
Initial decision left Ga’ava, Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs ‘deeply shocked’
Organizers of Montreal’s Pride parade have reversed their decision to ban Jewish groups from participating in the annual event.
The Montreal Gazette reported Fierté Montréal on July 30 informed Ga’ava, a group that is affiliated with the Toronto-based Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, it could not march in the Aug. 10 parade.
Ga’ava in a statement said it and the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs “were deeply shocked to learn today from Montreal Pride that LGBTQ+ Jews and their allies will be excluded from the 2025 Pride Parade.” Fierté Montréal earlier in the day in its own statement condemned “the ongoing genocide in Gaza, expresses solidarity with the Palestinian people, and calls for the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals in Palestine, and everywhere in the world — to be respected and protected.”
“Fierté Montréal’s position on violence of any kind inflicted upon marginalized populations or communities — especially 2SLGBTQIA+ communities — has always been clear: we denounce all forms of violence, we amplify the voices of queer communities who, on our stages and in our spaces, express their support for oppressed peoples, particularly the Palestinian people, and their opposition to genocide,” said Fierté Montréal. “The work of Fierté Montréal is rooted in a long-standing movement to fight oppression, and we acknowledge the pain expressed by queer communities in Montréal since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza.”
“Accordingly, and in line with our zero-tolerance policy for hate speech and incitement to violence, and to ensure that the Fierté Montréal Festival remains a safe and celebratory space for everyone, the board of directors of Fierté Montréal has made the decision to deny participation in the Pride Parade to organizations spreading hateful discourse,” it added. “This measure is taken in the context of a complex geopolitical situation and stems from our commitment to preserving the emotional and physical safety of our communities.”
Five Canadian MPs are among those who sharply criticized Fierté Montréal’s decision.
Bernard Truong, the group’s former board chair, resigned on Monday. The Montreal Gazette on Tuesday spoke with his successor, Marlot Marleau, about the decision to reinvite Ga’ava and the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs to participate in the parade.
“We realized the decision was seen as excluding the entire Jewish community. That was never the intent,” Marleau told the Montreal Gazette. “We’re sorry for making them feel unwelcome.”
“LGBTQ+ Jews are happy that Montreal Pride walked back its politically motivated decision to oust the Jewish community from the Pride Parade,” said Ga’ava President Carlos A. Godoy on Tuesday in a statement he sent to the Washington Blade. “Either you’re inclusive or you’re not. LGBTQ+ Jews have to bring their full authentic selves to the parade — we can’t ask Jews to separate their identities and attachments. LGBTQ+ Jews belong in Pride parades.”
Canada
Liberal Party wins Canadian election
Prime Minister Mark Carney railed against US tariffs, sovereignty threats
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won the country’s federal election that took place on Monday.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation notes the Liberals won 169 seats in parliament, compared to the 144 the Conservative Party won. The Liberals need 172 seats for a parliamentary majority.
Liberal Bruce Fanjoy defeated Pierre Poilievre, an anti-LGBTQ MP from Ontario who is the Conservatives’ leader, by a 50.6-46.1 percent margin.
The Liberals last month elected Carney to succeed Justin Trudeau as the country’s prime minister. Monday’s election took place against the backdrop of growing tensions with the U.S. that stem from tariffs the Trump-Vance administration has imposed against Canada, and suggestions the country should become the 51st state.
“Our strength lies in our resolve to work together,” said Carney on Tuesday in a post to his X account. “United, we will build Canada strong.”
Thank you, Canada.
Our strength lies in our resolve to work together. United, we will build Canada strong. pic.twitter.com/uN6h4LUAEP
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 29, 2025
Egale Canada, the country’s largest LGBTQ and intersex rights group, earlier this year announced it will not attend WorldPride and other events in the U.S. because of the Trump-Vance administration’s anti-transgender policies and “economic warfare and threats to our national sovereignty.”
“Democracy thrives when people engage, and our voices are used in a way where we can say we voted with pride,” said Egale Canada on Tuesday.
“As the new parliament takes shape, we recognize that the journey toward equity and inclusion — especially for 2SLGBTQI communities — extends far beyond election day,” added the group in its post-election statement. “The work of understanding, addressing, and acting on the issues faced by 2SLGBTQI people must be ongoing, collaborative, and grounded in human rights and lived experience.”
Egale Canada said it looks “forward to working with all members of parliament, both newly elected and returning, to help build a Canada where every person is treated with dignity, where diversity is celebrated, and where all are equal — and none are other.”
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