FORT ST. JOHN -- A man allegedly threatened a staff member at the Peace Gallery North in Fort St. John.
According to Juan Pablo, the main organizer of The Pride in the Community exhibit, the man made comments about the 2SLGBTQ+ community after seeing a flier for the upcoming exhibition.
The comments regarded asking why they weren’t supporting straight people.
Pablo says he receives many questions like, “what about straight pride, straight exhibition or straight walk? They live every day of their life without being scared that someone will come to them saying, oh, why were you straight? Why this or that?”
A staff member approached the man to ask the man to step outside.
According to the North Peace Cultual Centre, the man directed hateful slurs as well as threatening and intimidating words and actions at the staff. The indivudal also threatened legal action against staff and the society.
There are reports that the man uttered death threats but the centre clarifies that no death threats were given.
The gallery contacted Fort St. John RCMP at 11:53 a.m.
“It's scary and it's unfortunate that these things happen. But at the same time, this gives us more of an energy and strength to do all of our events,” says Pablo. “This is why we keep fighting every day, every year, to do these kinds of events, to create awareness, spread love, because ultimately we're just people leaving our lives, loving someone else.”
"The North Peace Cultural Society prides itself on being a welcoming, inclusive, safe space for all races, beliefs, and identities. Art can open doors to communication and build bridges between different ideologies. We welcome all opinions and ideas as long as they are communicated with respect," says Oliver Hachmeister, the executive director of the North Peace Cultural Centre.
According to Pablo, the man has been in similar situations in the past involving the gallery and police.
North Peace Pride Society hired two security guards for the exhibit.
RCMP ask staff members to call them if the man enters the gallery again.
“When it comes to the gallery staff, I just want to thank them because they didn't stop the show even after the death threats. They were more supportive of doing this kind of event because they know what it's like to have a voice out of the pride community and they want to be an ally,” says Pablo.
