Idaho drag performer awarded $1.1m in defamation case against far-right blogger

SOME GOOD NEWS COMING OUT OF AMERICA

Dear John:

I thought you might be interested in a bit of good news. I live part time in a little town on the border with northern Idaho not far from Coeur d'Alene, bastion of white supremacists. This is where I was born and raised. Two years ago a white supremacist homophobic group planned a riot at a gay pride event there.

Thankfully they were arrested before any disruption. But a drag performer at the pride event was the target of defamation for allegedly exposing his genitalia to an audience that included children.

He sued.

A jury of locals in this deep Trump supporting county (he got over 70% of the vote in the 2020 election) awarded the drag performer over $1 million for defamation. Woohoo!! Truth and justice, even in deep red Idaho, sometimes prevails.

Keep fighting.t

David:

Idaho drag performer awarded $1.1m in defamation case against far-right blogger

A blogger falsely claimed Eric Posey exposed himself to a crowd, including children

A jury has awarded more than $1.1m to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022.

The Kootenai county district court jury unanimously found that Summer Bushnell defamed Eric Posey, a resident of Post Falls, Idaho, when she posted a doctored video of his performance that included a blurred spot that she claimed covered his “fully exposed genitals”, the Coeur D’Alene Press reported.

In reality the unedited video showed no indecent exposure, and prosecutors declined to file charges.

“The judicial system did what needed to be done,” Posey said after the verdict on Friday.

Jurors awarded Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages for defamation. Because Posey proved that Bushnell knew her allegations were false when she made them or that she made the accusations with reckless disregard for the truth, the jury awarded $250,000 in additional punitive damages.

Posey, who uses the stage name Mona Liza Million, performed three times at LGBTQ+ Pride in the Park celebration events, wearing a long-sleeve leotard, black shorts and tights, with a shiny metallic boa around his waist. He did not remove clothing.

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