‘White power’ hand gesture during a demonstration outside Bellingham business

About a dozen protesters demonstrated in downtown Bellingham against a sex education series for youth, even though the “Uncringe Academy” classes taught by the owner of Wink Wink Boutique were moved to protect the students whose parents had enrolled them.

One participant at the demonstration repeatedly made “white power” hand gestures during the protest that started at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, and lasted about three hours in front of Mo’s Parlor, a Black-owned business across the street from Wink Wink, 1302 Commercial St.

Another protester with a shaved head wore body armor, carried a large folding knife, and was dressed in all brown — a uniform evocative of the Nazi Party’s paramilitary wing, the Brown Shirts.

At least two other protesters live-streamed to social media, and were unaware that the sex-ed classes were being taught with the consent of the parents whose children they had enrolled.

“I didn’t know that,” said Joe Felix, of 1st Responders Media of Bakersfield, Calif.

A larger protest apparently had been planned by a Whatcom County group on social media, but it canceled its role in the demonstration, with one member saying in a public Facebook post that they didn’t want to be associated with the vandals who smashed windows at Wink Wink early Sunday, Aug. 7.

Wink Wink owner Jenn Mason, her staff and employees of Bellingham Public Schools have faced repeated harassment and threats several times over the past year because of right-wing media reports that portray her business — a “not creepy” sex shop — and its educational outreach activities in a false light.

Mason is a member of the school district board of education, elected to a second four-year term in 2021 with 76% of the vote.

Facing off against the protesters were a handful of Wink Wink supporters who wrote messages of encouragement on the sidewalk with chalk and carried signs that read “I (heart) Wink Wink” and “Educated children = wise adults.”

Wink Wink supporter Michelle Meyer praised the classes that Mason teaches, which include information about body autonomy and consent.

“As a professional, I can share with you that that is the way that you prevent sexual assault,” said Meyer, a former children and family advocacy coordinator at Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County.

“It’s absurd” to think otherwise, Meyer told The Bellingham Herald.

“That’s something that seems lost on this audience,” she said.

Outside Mo’s Parlor, staff member Cináed Boyd asked the protesters to stop blocking the entrance to the store, and enlisted the help of three Downtown Ambassadors who were monitoring the protest.

“The fact that they chose to post up in front of this door (Mo’s), instead of that door says a lot,” Boyd said.