Drag Show In Warsaw Cancelled After Threats MadeThe private drag show scheduled for Saturday at Courthouse Coffee on the Square, 108 N. Buffalo St., Warsaw, was cancelled Monday after threats were made to the business, its employees and owners, as well as the drag show organizers.
In a statement provided to local media Monday night by Travis McConnell, an owner of Courthouse Coffee on the Square, he said, “We at Courthouse Coffee want to help clarify the last few days. A private event that was never meant to be public is now cancelled by its organizers. We have refunded their money. This is due to safety concerns for all involved, including several threats of violence made against our staff and owners.
“We want to thank all of you who have supported us in the shop, by message and on social media through this and continue to support us. We want to thank law enforcement for professionally and courteously handling the reporting of these threats from a small but extremely vocal minority of extremists in our community.”
He continued that the Courthouse Coffee manager and staff fielded some positive but many hateful calls all day Monday.
“Our owners had their faces put on extremist blog pages and other channels with calls to burn their property and do other harm,” he said.
Courthouse Coffee will not be scheduling any new events for the next month to reevaluate how to best serve the community, “all in the community. We continue to be an inclusive place for everyone and hope you will continue to support us in that mission.”
Courthouse Coffee was not promoting Saturday’s event, only renting out the space for the drag show.
McConnell notified the Times-Union of the change in the age restriction Sunday night to 18 and older after Monday’s newspaper had already gone to press. On Monday, McConnell texted that the event had been cancelled.
Previously, organizers were planning for the show to be rated PG-13 and minors were allowed at the discretion of their parents. The drag show angered some people who said on social media, among other things, that children should not be allowed to attend the event.
