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For safety reasons, we have changed the names of parties involved in this story.
Pride week in Kelowna is all about embracing each other and showing support.
However, an unfortunate incident that occurred over the weekend is serving as a painful reminder that there is still work to be done when it comes to Kelowna being titled as a fully inclusive and accepting city.
A local drag queen, who has asked to remain anonymous so we will call her "Alex," was assaulted in the early hours of Saturday morning while still in character and walking home from the monthly reoccurring event “Fruitcake” hosted at Sapphire Nightclub— a venue known for it's welcoming nature and hosting nearly all of the "Fruitcake" events.
Around 1:30 a.m., she left the event on her own, after not being able to find someone to walk with her, setting out on her three block walk home down Water Street.
It's a walk she's done many times, both in and out of drag.
“I’ve never had an issue, so I didn’t think much of it when I left,” said Alex in an interview with NowMedia.
She was approaching the highway when she heard someone yelling from a nearby alleyway,
It wasn’t long after that Alex recalled somebody hitting her in the back of the head and knocking her to the ground, proceeding to kick her in the side and legs.
“I managed to get back up and kind of fight back because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get away," she explained. "It was “fight or flight” and I had been in fights before so I kind of knew how to get myself out of that situation.”
Alex managed to give her perpetrator a bloody nose, providing her with a chance to get away and run toward a more populated area.
“I knew that if I could get to a place with other people or cars or something, that he wouldn't follow.”
Despite not knowing her perpetrator, Alex could tell it was a targeted attack likely motivated by the consumption of alcohol.
“He was very drunk, I could smell the liquor on him, so I feel like that is probably what gave him the motivation to follow through with actually attacking somebody.”
“When he did hit me he was saying things like 'faggot' and 'queer,' it was definitely a targeted attack, not just him being drunk and angry — it was him being drunk and angry at me, for some reason.”
Upon returning home, Alex called the organizer of the event and other local queens to warn them not to walk alone.
“I didn't know if this guy was still out there, I didn't know if there were other people out there. He was alone when he attacked me, but I didn’t want somebody else who maybe didn’t know how to defend themselves, or didn’t have the strength to defend themselves, to be in a similar situation.”
Although knowing the likelihood of finding her attacker is slim, due to lack of witnesses and minimal security cameras in the area, Alex has been encouraged by RCMP to file a report to make others aware.
I want people to know that just because we feel safe all the time, or we think we can be 100% ourselves all the time, that it is still not as safe as people think, that there is still a need for Pride. It kind of opened my eyes to what happens elsewhere in the world. We live in a very beautiful place and are very lucky to have a community that is at that point where we can feel comfortable like that. I’ve never felt that in Kelowna I couldn’t go out in drag or be who I wanted to be, but this has showed me that this can still happen despite being in a progressive community.
Having been attacked only 13 hours prior, Alex made it out to the annual Pride March in Stuart Park.
“I did go [to Pride], but I originally did not want to. I didn’t want to leave the house, I wanted to just be alone and not go out and do anything.”
Now thinking back on it, Alex says that it was important for her to attend.
“The whole reason we have these celebrations is because even in a community like Kelowna where there is so much acceptance, and love, and people fighting for everyone, there is still homophobia, and attacks like this, and that it is not okay.”
Though her love for drag is still as strong as ever, Alex said he will be taking a little time to recuperate and assess the best way to handle the situation.
“It is definitely not the end of drag for me," she said. "I love the character I play and going out and entertaining, it is so much fun and I love it, I definitely will perform again.”
Despite falling victim to an attack of this nature, Alex made it clear to NowMedia that she is still full of pride and wants her fellow members LGBTQ2+ community to be too.
“Despite everything I am still proud of who I am, I am still gonna go out and do my thing. It is hard and it is taking some time, but I’m not going let it stop me from being who I am, I guess.”
“It’s still important for us to fight for equality and fight to be who we want to be, despite any hate or discrimination it is still okay to be who you are.”
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