SOUTHERN WASHINGTON BREWERY VANDALIZED AFTER ANNOUNCING DRAG SHOW
March 15, 2023 by ROBERT SANDS
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Early last Saturday morning one or more yet-unidentified people smashed the windows at Heathen Brewing Feral Public House in the Portland, OR exburb of Vancouver, Washington. The vandalism was likely a hate crime targeting the progressive brewery for hosting an all-ages drag show later this month.
Heathen Brewing has of late been the target of posts on a Telegram channel with nearly 350 subscribers. LCRW won’t name the channel to avoid giving it further notoriety among the far-right, but it is a hyper-local bulletin board for Portland-area bigots. The board focused their hate on the brewery because it’s hosting an all ages benefit drag brunch that will be held at the brewery on Sunday the 26th. The board shared calls from several prominent figures in the far right anti-drag movement, including the hate group Gays Against Groomers(GAG), to counter protest the event. GAG is a group of queer-identified people who use their identities as gay or bisexual as a rainbow cover for the larger-right wing campaign against trans rights. They have ties to the proud boys.
In one post shared to the channel, bigots petition the Clark county sheriff, John Horch in an email to
“Take whatever action that you deem necessary to stop this” in reference to both the event at Heathen
Brewery and another at Georgie’s Garage and Grill in Vancouver, WA on March 18th. Stumptown Research, an antifascist collective, also reported on several Proud Boys who repeatedlytargeted the brewery with online vitriol and threatened to protest the event.
Heathen Brewing said in a Facebook post on March 14th that the benefit brunch will be happening—but changed it from an all-ages to an 18+ event.