An Idaho jury awarded a drag performer more than $1.1 million in damages on Friday after a far-right blogger defamed him and spread false claims that he exposed himself to children during a pride event.
Eric Posey, who performs under the drag name Mona Liza Million, sued blogger Summer Bushnell in 2022 after she posted a doctored video that showed Posey appearing in drag at the event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The video included supposed footage of Posey dancing in drag with a blurred area around his waist.
“Why did no one arrest the man in a dress who flashed his genitalia to minors and people in the crowd?” Bushnell said in an earlier post. “No one said anything about it and there’s video. I’m going to put up a blurred video to prove it.”
The blurred footage sparked national outcry and was ultimately seen by thousands of people. In truth, the unedited video showed Posey performing in an outfit with a boa around his waist, with no inappropriate behavior. But Bushnell’s repeated posts about the performance sparked a police investigation and prompted city prosecutors to publicly state that Posey had not exposed himself to the crowd.
Posey told the jury during the trial that the episode became a flashpoint in the conservative war against LGBTQ+ Americans and drag performers, saying he received death threats and harassment as a result of Bushnell’s posts. The pride event at the center of the case became a lightning rod in that fight after 31 members of a white supremacist group were arrested nearby and later charged with conspiracy to riot at the event.
“Imagine being in a dark hole where you have nobody and you felt the whole world turn their back on you,” Posey said in court on Thursday, per the Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press. “But somehow, you were surrounded by warriors, true people of Idaho — not transplants, true people of this soil. I am fortunate to say I have people like that around me, people that lifted me up.”
The jury found Bushnell liable for damages, awarding Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages for defamation and $250,000 in punitive damages, as his attorneys had shown that Bushnell knew her statements were false but shared them anyway with reckless disregard for the truth.
Jurors had asked the judge if they could order Bushnell to take down her posts, but the judge said this was not possible. The videos were still on Bushnell’s page as of Friday, according to the Coeur d’Alene Press.
“I am so grateful that the jury was attentive, and that they rejected the lies that put me in a dark place for nearly two years,” Posey said after the verdict, according to The New York Times.
The North Idaho Pride Alliance, which put on the initial pride event that Bushnell’s post claimed to depict, championed the jury’s findings. The group said it was deeply appreciative of the “jury’s dedication and careful consideration of facts presented.”
“In light of recent events, our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community in Northern Idaho is stronger than ever,” the group said in a statement. “We will persist in our efforts to provide resources, education, and advocacy, fostering a culture of acceptance and understanding.”