By Ali Siemens (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: March 21, 2012
Gerda Peachey has been a household name in Abbotsford in the last few months. From the mayoral elections to the issues surrounding the Taboo Naughty but Nice Sex Show held at the Abbotsford Tradex, as well as the impending lingerie football league, Peachey’s name has been featured in the media alongside these events.
When the sex show was cancelled a few weeks ago, media groups contacted the hosts of the sex show, Canwest, and asked why they would be bypassing Abbotsford in their upcoming tour. While the difficulty of obtaining the appropriate liquor licensing was one issue, the next appeared to be Gerda Peachey.
However, the show must go on and the sex show is in fact visiting Abbotsford, and Peachey’s beliefs did not effect the removal or reinstatement of the show.
Unfortunately for Peachey, her name was used and her words were misquoted in a series of media broadcasts.
“I have never in 67 years seen my name and face featured this prominently. Most of what I read about myself was hate-filled, filthy vitriol, Peachey said. “Nice people, these taboo fans.”
In an interview with Sean Libin vice-president of Canwest, Peachey’s name was brought up on several occasions. Peachey’s main concern with this broadcasting through The Abbotsford News was that she had never met nor spoke to Libin, leaving her curious as to why he was speaking about her when the issue revolved around a liquor license. When asked why Libin felt it was necessary to use Peachey’s name, he responded to her via e-mail saying, “what you need to realize is I was answering specific questions posed by the media that were specifically directed about you. For example, ‘if you could send a message to Gerda Peachey, what would you tell her?’”
Peachey viewed this debacle as a charade that increased free advertising for the event.
Unscathed by the media’s attention, Peachey still stands firm on her beliefs, despite the insults and critiques she has received from the community. When asked if she will advocate against the sex show in the future, Peachey answered, “I regard the taboo show and the lingerie football as degrading, demeaning and destructive to the lives of women. If you demoralize women, you also cause grievous harm to their children,” Peachey noted. “I am not generally apathetic about these things.”
Above all, Peachey felt her name was used to bring attention to the event.
She said, “It worked so well for Canwest. All the show participants, who would be out of money, could direct their anger at me, not Canwest.”
