Political correctness takes stranger and stranger forms and those of us who support free speech sometimes find ourselves supporting some pretty unlikely characters. CAFE has written the Chairman of the Toronto Dominion Bank denouncing the decision to fire a drag queen named Daytona Bitch (no kidding!) whom they’d hired to entertain during Toronto’s Gay Pride Week. The drag queen’s sin in TD’s eyes?  Allegedly  racism.  She/he (?) been hired to act  as TD Canada Trust’s “Pride drag queen.” We’re asking that they give Dayton the wages owed him/her (?) plus $5,000 compensation for the public humiliation of being summarily sacked without a fair hearing.
Xtra (June 27, 2013), a Toronto homosexual newspaper, reported: “Toronto drag artist Daytona Bitch has been fired as the TD Canada Trust Pride drag queen following a recent performance in which she wore what some are calling ‘blackface.’Bitch says she received the news in an email on June 26 that said she will not be performing on the Pride Toronto (PT) stages after PT’s director of development, Ben Freeman, placed a call to the marketing company that booked her gig. The email from Diamond Integrated Marketing states that Bitch’s recent performance was ‘not at all well received by the LGBT community’ and is contrary to TD’s ‘longstanding commitment to diversity.’ Bitch says she was devastated to learn her Pride schedule is now wide open, which means a big financial hit for the popular drag performer. The performance in question, which generated plenty of angry discussion on social media, took place at Crews & Tangos on June 24. Bitch was a judge for Drag Race, and the theme was Caribbean Heat, she says. Bitch dressed as Miss Cleo, an American ‘psychic’ who achieved fame as a spokesperson for a psychic hotline from 1997 to 2003. She planned to read people’s fortunes as part of her act. But before the end of the night, photos were already circulating on Facebook with some calling the performance a “racist minstrel show.” Bitch doesn’t see it that way. ‘I asked a couple people if it was offensive because it’s not blackface in my eyes,’ she says. ‘I went to theatre school. I know what blackface is. It was not a minstrel show. I was doing a character. “The people I asked at Crews & Tangos thought it was hilarious that I was dressed as a big fat black woman.'”
Where to start? Well, first, a drag queen usually is a man dressing up as a woman, and acting exceedingly feminine, with voice, gestures and often imitating in an exaggerated manner female foibles, including bitchiness. Now, isn’t that, to some degree, insulting and offensive to women? Who knows. Apparently not. So, Dayton Bitch’s real sin was not impersonating a woman, but putting on some makeup and impersonating Miss Cleo a Negro television personality from 15 years ago. For that, TD fired her for acting  contrary to “TD’s ‘longstanding commitment to diversity.'” Now, being a drag queen is pretty “diverse.” It’s hard to see how impersonating a Negro woman is somehow less “diverse.”

The TD website boasts how pro-homosexual and pro-“diversity” the bank is. “TD Bank is invested in its commitment to diversity and inclusion and we value the events and initiatives that matter to our employees and customers who we serve. We are not just a sponsor of Pride, but rather a full community partner and supporter of the LGBTA community,” said Robert Pompey, Head of Commercial Management Administration at TD Bank and Co-Chair of the bank’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Allies Subcommittee. TD Bank employee volunteers will participate in the Pride events by marching in the parade, engaging the crowds and distributing giveaways. …The series of Pride festivals is just one part of TD Bank’s unwavering commitment to equality and creating a truly inclusive workplace. In 2013, TD Bank became one of the first banks in the nation to offset the tax burden its LGBT employees incur to pay for domestic-partner benefits. The bank also extended the national conversation on the issue of bullying and teen suicide within the LGBT community by creating the “Make it Better” video, which highlights TD employees and a message of support from TD’s President and CEO, Ed Clark. In fact, TD Bank’s dedication to inclusion was recently recognized by DiversityInc when named one of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity in 2013. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation also distinguished TD Bank as one of “The Best Places to work for LGBT Equality.”
Well, bully for them. One wonders whether their gushy inclusiveness includes supporting traditional child-producing families rather then the aberrant and ultimately anti-family homosexual agenda.
Anyhow all this “diversity” somehow doesn’t include Daytona Bitch who imitated a Negro female. It gets weirder by the minute. And TD Bank customers will be delighted to learn that outgoing TD President Ed Clark is quite the guy too. The TD website burbles:  “Ed has been honoured numerous times for his vision, integrity and strong leadership. … Ed has also received Egale’s* Leadership Award in honor of his leadership in supporting LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) communities, and the inaugural Catalyst Canada Honour, awarded to individuals who have made a critical and visible difference to women’s advancement.”
* EGALE is Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere a major spokesthingy for Canada’s homosexual lobby.
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Canadian Association for Freedom of Expression,

Paul Fromm, Director

June 28, 2013

Brian M. Levitt Chairman of the Board The Toronto-Dominion Bank P.O. Box 1 Toronto-Dominion Centre Toronto, Ontario M5K 1A2
Dear Mr. Levitt:
I write to you wearing three hats: I’m a TD customer, a shareholder,  and Director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression, Canada’s leading free speech advocate.
As a customer and shareholder, I strongly opposed to the bank supporting and helping to fund the Gay Pride events in Toronto. Supporting and promoting a tiny fringe is not in keeping with the pro-family values of the vast majority of your customers and shareholders. Whatever monies were spent promoting Gay Pride might have better been devoted to reducing banking fees for your customers or increasing shareholder dividends.
That being said, as a free speech advocate, I must protest your treatment of one Daytona Bitch hired as TD’s Pride drag queen to perform in the Gay Pride Week. She was summarily fired for impersonating a Black television personality.
A drag queen usually is a man dressing up as a woman, and acting exceedingly feminine, with voice, gestures and often imitating in an exaggerated manner female foibles, including bitchiness. Now, isn’t that, to some degree insulting and offensive to women in general? Apparently not. So, Dayton Bitch’s real sin was not impersonating a woman, but putting on some makeup and impersonating Miss Cleo, a Black personality from 15 years ago. For that, TD fired her for acting  contrary to “TD’s ‘longstanding commitment to diversity.'” Now, being a drag queen is pretty “diverse.” It’s hard to see how impersonating a Black woman offends  “diversity.”
The firing of Daytona Bitch is political correctness taken to the absurd. We call on TD to pay the salary coming to this person and $5,000 compensation for the public humiliation of being fired in the middle of the Gay Pride events.
Sincerely yours,
Paul Fromm
Director