After a popular Ontario restaurant that hosts drag performances abruptly closed this month, its employees, including regular performers, have been left without an explanation, a source of income and what they call “a safe place.”
On Election Day, when the so-called blue tsunami swept across the nation, with voters electing more Democrats who may be more supportive of LGBTQ rights, workers at Hamburger Mary’s Ontario received a sudden text saying the doors to the restaurant were locked, and it had to stop operations.
“It was a shock,” said Cesar, one of the drag show performers. “Now, with the economy and political climate, people are holding on to their money because of how politicians have painted drag queens. Many people have stopped coming.”…