Monroe restaurant countersues LGBTQ protesting group
MONROE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A Monroe restaurant has issued a counterclaim to a lawsuit against them, saying protesters for the business’s all-ages drag shows have defamed and cost them business.
The claim comes after protestors filed suit against East Frank Superette and Kitchen over the use of altered photos of them. In one photo, promotional restaurant material showed images of the protestors with altered signs.
The group’s lawsuit claims the restaurant of Wrongful Appropriation of Personal Image and of violating North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Union County restaurant sued over altered photos promoting drag events: Records
In the counterclaim, filed April 12, the restaurant said the protestors “routinely and regularly accused East Frank — a restaurant that, from time to time, hosts drag performances — of child abuse, child sexual exploitation, and child grooming.”
The counterclaim further added that the “knowingly false accusations have damaged East Frank’s reputation, cost East Frank substantial profits, and worst of all, have exposed East Frank, its customers, and the drag performers it hosts, to threats of violence.”
The counterclaim also includes exhibits of what the restaurant calls “dangerous misinformation” by the protestors.
The counterclaim accuses the protestors of defamation, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and civil conspiracy. The restaurant requests a case dismissal and with compensatory and punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees covered.
Queen City News first reported on the East Frank Superette and Kitchen’s drag shows and the protests that have resulted.
Monroe restaurant drag show sparks controversy
The restaurant has previously said that the shows have resulted in a boost in business, with tickets for performances regularly selling out.
Queen City News has also previously heard from other protestors who said they were protesting these events on moral or religious grounds to “keep these demons away from our children” in a county that leans politically conservative.
Drag performances have become popular in the last several years due to more cultural awareness in the media. Once limited to bars catering to the LGBTQ community, many restaurants and bars of all types across the United States regularly have performances to bring in business.
Performers and businesses have repeatedly stressed the shows are catered to the audiences attending, with performances and music often adjusted for all performances, and have taken deep offense to any claims of child abuse.
East Frank noted in their counterclaim, “Drag performances are not child abuse. They are not child sexual exploitation. They are not child grooming.”
The attorney for the protestors who filed the initial lawsuit said previously that their case centers on the altered photographs East Frank Superette and Kitchen used on social media.
Queen City News reached out to the protestors’ attorney on Thursday. The attorney said they could not provide a substantive comment by our deadline but noted they would be open to having a conversation about this case “sometime next week.”
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