LGBTQ2 individuals call out Prince George nightclub for breaking public health orders

For the second straight weekend, a nightclub in Prince George has defied orders to shut down and opened its doors to dancers to the dismay of some members of thecommunity it purports to serve.

Lambda Cabaret identifies itself as a "safe space" for the LGBTQ2 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and two-spirit community in northern B.C., but lately has adopted the language of inclusion to include people who are unvaccinated, saying it does not "discriminate" against people who have not received COVID-19 vaccines.

A sign posted near the front door says it doesn't follow B.C.'s vaccine passport policy and doesn't mandate masks.

This defiance caught the attention of authorities on the weekend of Feb. 5, when video shared to the club's Facebook pageshowed the service ofalcohol without meals and crowds of unmasked dancers, despite public health orders preventing both activities.

Following these actions,Northern Healthissued a closure noticeon Feb. 9, citing non-compliance with the provincial Food and Liquor Serving Premises order.

B.C.'s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch then suspended the club's liquor licence on Feb. 11, citing non-compliance with provincial health orders.

But onFeb.13, the club posted multiple videos to its Facebook page, once again showinglarge crowds of peopledancing and drinking while unmasked.

"Open with zero mandates 2 weekends in a row," one post declared while another stated, "The media is the virus."

Video posted to the page also show an RCMP officer and two people believed to be public health staff outside the club observing people go in and out but not taking any action.

RCMP confirmed that an officer accompanied two public health officers to the club on Feb. 12 at the request of Northern Health.

Northern Health says it continues to monitor the club as part of its enforcement process, while B.C.'s Ministry of Public Safety said it is looking into the matter.

The club's owner has not responded to a request from CBC for comment.

Nightclubs actions diminish realdiscrimination, resident says

At Wednesday's COVID-19 briefing, Dr. Bonnie Henry called the club's defiance of health orders "a slap in the face" of health-care workers who have been on the front lines of the pandemic.

Jean Michel Baptiste, who identifies as two-spirit and non-binary,says Lambda Cabaret known as anLGBTQ2-friendly nightclub in the northern B.C. city no longer-feels like a safe place because the club has been defying public health orders on the grounds of being non-discriminatory.

Baptiste says Canada's queer community has faced real discrimination, and that resorting to anti-discrimination as a justification to defy public health orders erases the hard work of the LGBTQ2 community around getting protection under Canadian law.

They say the communityhasfought to include"sexual orientation" as a legitimatearea for discrimination inthe Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"When it comes to equating these two experiencesof facing discrimination and human rights infringements along withnot having your vaccines, not wearing masks that's a false equivalency," they said.

Laura Binette, the chair of thePrince George Queer Caf,also feels the actions taken by the nightclub diminish real discrimination the queer community has faced.

Binette said the actions of one place of business do not represent Prince George's queer community as a whole. Although the bar is known to be queer-friendly, Binette feels it has become more distant from theLGBTQ2 community.

"When Lambda started, it was a really safe space where people could literally go there when the world had turned their back on them. And it's just not that anymore," Binette said.

Binette said she has spoken to a fewpeople within the queer community who are worriedthe club may get shut down permanently because the owner won't follow public health orders.

"There's history there and it's our history. It's our queer history," she said.