Queer-owned businesses allege anti-trans graffiti attacks

Two queer-oriented Halifax businesses were allegedly vandalized with anti-transgender graffiti within a three-day period, fuelling their concerns over the spread of misinformation about gender identity.

Glitter Bean Cafe staff found a message, scrawled in permanent marker, on the side of their downtown building on the morning of Feb. 5, employee Vivian Sheppard told The Signal.

“The message said ‘this business supports child grooming,’” Sheppard said in an interview on Feb. 9.  

The same message, also written in permanent marker, was found by staff at the downtown Venus Envy sex shop on Feb. 2, employee Marshall Haywood wrote in a statement to The Signal.  

“It’s concerning that bigots feel emboldened to spread hate so publicly,” Haywood wrote. “It feels like these local acts are not isolated incidents but part of a larger pattern of disinformation that impacts the safety and well-being of 2SLGBTQIA.” 

Glitter Bean Cafe and Venus Envy are “safe queer spaces” that host LGBTQ+ events and openly support queer and trans youth, said Sheppard, who added that both businesses are owned and run by queer individuals. 

“The message was a pretty obvious dog whistle towards gender-affirming care for adolescents,” Sheppard said. “It’s the misconception that permanent surgeries are being done on adolescents, which is completely untrue.” 

Gender-affirming care refers to the social, behavioural or medical steps that someone may take to support their gender identity, said Carmel Farahbakhsh, executive director of The Youth Project, a provincial organization that supports LGBTQ+ youth.  

“Access to gender-affirming care is truly life-saving,” Farahbakhsh told The Signal, “but a lot of people are really afraid of this rhetoric that gender-affirming surgeries are being done on children, which is, of course, completely inaccurate and not true.” 

U.S. president Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 28 that aimed to cut off access to gender-affirming care for youth in the United States. The order was temporarily paused by U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson on Feb. 13 following lawsuits claiming Trump’s order was unconstitutional. 

For youth, gender-affirming care typically does not include surgery or hormone replacement therapy, said Farahbakhsh. Instead, youth may experiment with their clothing and hair, change their name and pronouns, or take puberty blockers, which suppress the production of sex hormones.  

“It’s vital that young people are able to self-determine and decide what works for them and feel the freedom to do so,” said Farahbakhsh. 

King’s student decries hate

Percy Lalonde, a student at the University of King’s College and member of the transgender community, says he believes misinformation about gender-affirming healthcare fuels “hateful actions” like the alleged vandalism at Glitter Bean Cafe and Venus Envy.  

“There’s always going to be people that just hate because they hate,” Lalonde told The Signal, “but I think that a big part of it is people not understanding what it actually is.” 

Throughout his teenage years, Lalonde started dressing differently and cutting his hair as a way to explore his gender identity. Once he was in university, he started taking testosterone and underwent gender-affirming surgery.  

“It changed my life,” said Lalonde. “It let me look in the mirror and know that this is the real me, and I just recognize myself now.” 

Venus Envy and Glitter Bean Cafe spoke out about the alleged vandalism over social media but say they did not file a complaint with Halifax Regional Police. Glitter Bean told The Signal they would consider calling police if they’re vandalized again.