Small businesses in Lancaster see boost after LGBTQ+ controversy

LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) -- Small business owners in Lancaster say they experienced an influx of customers after their shops were included on a social media post tying them to a debated LGBTQ+ Pride event.

Brandon Love, owner of fragrance and gift store Bewilderment, told NBC4 his downtown Lancaster business is one of several that saw a boost in sales when the store was named to a list shared on social media by members of a group called "Fairfield County Conservatives." Love said the reverse happened when the group posted the list as part of an alleged boycott against businesses that support the LGBTQ+ community.

"We've probably had at least 200 people who have never been to Lancaster that have come to town to support the boycotted businesses," Love said. "People from, not just Columbus, but out of state have been visiting us on the daily now, and so it's definitely something I didn't expect."

Teresa Speakman, owner of art collection and make-your-pottery space Mud Gallery, said she also has received increased support from consumers. Speakman said she is an ally to the LGBTQ+ community and has long kept a Pride flag up inside her business.

"I've had people come in here and say, 'Oh, thank you for your flag, your rainbow flag, thank you for being here. Thank you for being a safe space,'" Speakman said. "I'm always interested in building community, and I'm an ally of anyone that needs a safe space."

Along with a series of small businesses like Mud Gallery and Bewilderment, the conservative group's list includes a number of local organizations and regional institutions, like the Fairfield County Health Department, the county's alcohol, drug addiction and mental health board, Nationwide Children's Hospital, and the Fairfield County District Library.

The list circulated after members of Fairfield County Conservatives spoke during city council meetings in protest of a "Lite the Nite with Pride" event hosted by The Rainbow Alliance of Fairfield County. When the group argued the event featured an "obscene" drag queen show, the city's top prosecutor said the performance was legally permissible and protected by the First Amendment.

However, Chuck Burgoon, a member of the conservative group and the executive director of Fairfield Family Forum, told NBC4 the list wasn't created to boycott but rather to inform the community about which businesses have supported the Rainbow Alliance. Burgoon is one of several members who have since called on city council to adopt a measure prohibiting "adult cabaret performances," similar to a bill proposed at the Ohio Statehouse that opponents say would amount to a ban of drag queens in public.

"None of us have called for anyone to boycott these businesses; we were just trying to figure out who was supporting [Lite the Nite]," Burgoon said. "Our downtown has suffered greatly, and it has come back now. We don't want to lose that again, so we haven't called for anybody to boycott anyone."

Love argued the list had always been a boycott, pointing to recent "targeted, violent attacks on these queer businesses," like posters put up around Lancaster slandering Bewilderment, verbal confrontations and vandalism against neighboring businesses. Love said that if "they are going to launch a boycott, they need to stand by it." Speakman said she has witnessed some of the group's members walking around downtown taking photos and videos of businesses with LGBTQ-supportive signs and apparel.

Burgoon said he "hasn't seen any signs" of what Love and Speakman are referring to, and that he would "immediately speak out against it, because that's not what [the group is] about." Burgoon reiterated that he doesn't "know anybody that's went in and accosted any employees" and hasn't "seen any defamatory signs in the city."

Through the discourse, Love said those on the list have "banded together" to advocate for small and LGBTQ-owned businesses in Lancaster. Bewilderment, Mud Gallery and other organizations are now sharing a similar list on social media, but with a new title: a "Lancaster Bucket List."

"I've been boycotted before as a queer-owned business, I think Ohio's just kind of sick of their rhetoric and tired of being tired to being a hateful state," Love said. "It's just not true, this is our home, too. We're queer people, we're here, we have communities, we have businesses."

Businesses on the bucket list include At Last Bakery, Double Edge Brewery, Grace United Church of Christ, Paloma Spiritual Salon, Pearl Yoga Studio, Square 7 Coffee, Zoetic Connection and many others.

Although Mud Gallery wasn't included on the conservative group's original list, Speakman said she advocated to have her business included on the bucket list given the gallery is one of the Rainbow Alliance's certified "safe spaces," meaning a local business or partner that is LGBTQ+ friendly.

"Brandon took their boycott list and made another list public that said, 'Hey, these are actually businesses that you do want to support," Speakman said. "So, it was kind of turned around to being shared and shared and shared, and has brought me a lot more people that have found me."

The bucket list was further platformed when prominent local drag queen Virginia West, the founder of LGBTQ+ bar District West in Columbus, also shared Love's revamped list on social media.

"There's so much hate going on in the world right now. [Lancaster] is a fabulous little town about 30 minutes from the city," said West on social media. "If you have some time, take a short drive out and go support some fabulous businesses that are being threatened."