Ohio cafe will host drag story hour despite online hate campaign

The owner of an Ohio cafe is not backing down after an online hate campaign targeted an upcoming drag story hour in her space.

Ghiovanna Lora is the owner of Coterie Lounge and Café in West Chester, Ohio, 18 miles north of Cincinnati. She opened this Black- and woman-owned space in 2024 as a place where patrons could always feel welcomed.

“I just wanted to duplicate the feeling that people get when they walk in somewhere and immediately feel like they are home,” Lora told The Buckeye Flame.

Despite the area skewing conservative and Republican – Butler County voted for President Trump by over 62% in 2024 – Lora has been committed to extending Coterie’s welcoming vibe to the LGBTQ+ community. The cafe has signs proclaiming that it is a safe space, and rainbow pins and stickers are for sale alongside items amplifying a wide variety of cultures.

“We really mean it when we say that everyone is welcome here,” Lora said.

Over the past two years, the cafe has hosted a variety of events, from book clubs to live music to community gatherings. Lora said the success of multiple drag shows in the space convinced her to branch out into hosting a family-friendly drag story hour event on April 16, featuring Hamilton-area performer Roxie D. Mocracy.

“We just wanted to do something a little bit different because our turnout for the drag shows was so big,” Lora said.

Then the online hate started. The pushback originated with a post by Darbi Boddy, founder of Access Ohio, a West Chester-based nonprofit focused on “preserving traditional American values.”

In her post, Boddy called the drag story hour a “breeding ground for potential pedophiles wrapped in glitter and sin, and it is actively corrupting our children.”

She further described Coterie as “drenched in witchcraft vibes, and straight-up demonic.”

Lora said Boddy shared her post to dozens of different groups, which then triggered more hateful comments and people calling the cafe, saying they were going to boycott Coterie.

Lora was initially worried about the blowback when she first heard about Boddy’s post.

“My stomach dropped and I didn’t know what was going to happen,” she said.

Boddy Issues

Boddy formerly served on the Lakota Local School Board but was removed in 2024 for violating the board’s attendance policy. She was unable to be present at meetings as another Republican on the board – with whom she had previously campaigned – had filed an order of protection against her for harassment and stalking.

Her tenure on the board was marked with controversy, including being served with a notice for trespassing on school property, being censured for posting links to sexual content and repeatedly yelling and disrupting meetings, including when children were present.

When ousted, Boddy compared her plight to “the same type of thing they are trying to do to [President] Trump.”

In an email to The Buckeye Flame, Boddy denounced drag story hours as “adult sexual performance art aimed at corrupting young innocent minds.”

“This exposure to inappropriate sexual promiscuity and deviance confuses children, corrupts their little minds, and exposes them to evil they shouldn’t be exposed to,” Boddy said.

The Reverse Effect

Although Lora was initially worried about the hate comments Boddy’s post stirred up, the tide of comments quickly turned positive: The posts were flooded with social media users expressing support for Coterie.

“The love from our community has been tremendous,” Lora said.

That online support quickly transferred directly into the cafe: The day after Boddy’s post, Coterie had one of the highest days of sales in recent memory. They had to add a second drag story hour to accommodate the requested ticket sales.

“Our community saw the hate and came right back with love,” Lora said.

Lora said the outpouring of support affirms the very name of her cafe – “coterie” means a small, close-knit gathering of people with shared interests and tastes – and even further strengthens her resolve to create a safe space.

As for owning a shop “drenched in witchcraft vibes, and straight-up demonic,” Lora is turning that, too, towards the positive: she’s printing those words on T-shirts to be sold at the cafe, and she has Darby Boddy to thank.

“I would honestly say ‘thank you’ to Darby because she has introduced so many new people to my cafe and given us so many good ideas for new T-shirts and new events,” Lora said. “We couldn’t have done it without her.” 🔥

IGNITE ACTION

Learn more about Coterie Lounge and Cafe by visiting their website here. Give them a follow on Facebook or Instagram.