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Activist Bill Whatcott speaking Dec. 1, 2018 on the history of homosexual activism in Canada and the tyranny of the nation’s “human rights” commissions.
The following is the text of Canadian pro-family activist Bill Whatcott’s speech at the Agape Global Fellowship , December 1, 2018, on the history of homosexual activism in Canada and the hijacking of Human Rights Commissions to push the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) agenda in Canada (which he calls a “not so free country”). Bill and I were jailed for speaking out peacefully against homosexuality at a public university in Saskatchewan, Canada back in 2014; a judge later exonerated us.
Though his tactics are unorthodox to say the least (e.g., sneaking in to the Toronto “Gay Pride” dressed as green “zombies” for a “gay cannabis” club), Whatcott is easily the bravest and boldest defender of truth against the LGBTQueer movement in all of Canada. The homosexual movement has gained tremendous power there, and is using it to essentially ban dissent from people like Bill who dare speak out against it. That includes Christians, who are losing their right to teach and defend their biblical beliefs. We’ll have more on Whatcott’s current struggle involving his alleged “crime” of “misgendering” a “male-to-female” transsexual activist politician, Ronan Oger, in future posts. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; Twitter: @Peter LaBarbera
Take Action: You can support Whatcott financially at his “GoGetFunding” page, and visit his website HERE.
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Grace, mercy and peace in the name of God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Thank you for inviting me here to speak on the important and highly relevant issue of the state of religious freedom, freedom of conscience and freedom of speech in Canada. Let me start by giving a brief history of the homosexual activist movement in Canada and its hijacking of human rights commissions to give perspective to my arguments.
It has now been 50 years since former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau famously plagiarized the Globe and Mail writer Martin O’Malley’s intellectually dishonest comment “the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation.” Of course, we can look at the past 50 years and see what Trudeau assured us would merely be legalizing private consensual activity in the bedroom, has grown into something much more than that. In a few short years sodomy moved from the bedroom to the public square in ways completely unforeseen by Canadians at the time and really without precedent in history.
The first public display of support for homosexuality in Canada appeared on Hanlon’s Point on Toronto Island in 1971 two years after Pierre Trudeau legalized sodomy. The event was known as “Gay Days” and was organized by two homosexual activist groups, one known as “Toronto Gay Action” and the other as “The Community Homophile Association.” If one reads the early accounts of these activist events one can see public nudity and promiscuous sexual activity was already integral to the so-called “gay” liberation movement.
Liberty Counsel issued the following press release today (December 11, 2015):
A Canadian high court has upheld the religious liberty of Trinity Western University. The accreditation of the Christian law school was challenged after LGBT activists said that the school’s adherence to Biblical standards on morality and marriage would produce incompetent lawyers.
“This was a major victory against religious discrimination stemming from Canada’s legalizing same-sex marriage in 2005,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel and former Dean of Liberty University School of Law. “LGBT activists are trying to cleanse government offices, colleges and universities, public schools, businesses, and even churches of those who believe what everyone has believed through millennia of human history that marriage is a union of a man and a woman,” Staver said. “This persecution of Christians is spreading to all levels of society,” Staver warned. “It is the greatest attack against religious liberty in our modern times.”
“I am thankful that the Canadian high court has defended the religious liberty of the largest Christian university in Canada. My hope and prayer is that when this issue comes to the United States, and it will, our courts will protect our Christian universities,” Staver concluded.
JUDGE SAYS NO TO CAMPUS CENSORS: AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera being arrested at the University of Regina last April. Yesterday, Saskatchewan Provincial Judge MaryLynne Beaton rejected the university’s claim that a peaceful protest at U-R against abortion and sodomy somehow interfered with students’ education. Canadian pro-family advocate Bill Whatcott–who with LaBarbera was arrested on a “Mischief” charge–says he will return to the camps to disseminate biblical truth.
“I find that the purpose of (their) attending the University of Regina was to communicate information and their actions were passive and non-aggressive,” Judge Beaton wrote. “The university’s response was disproportionate to the peaceful distribution of flyers.” [page 14, decision]
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Saskatchewan Provincial Court Judge Marylynne Beaton ruled yesterday that AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera and Canadian pro-family advocate Bill Whatcott are not guilty of criminal “mischief” after being arrested and jailed April 14, 2014 after peacefully protesting and disseminating factual literature at the University of Regina–against the wishes of school administrators.
In the 27-page decision, available HERE, Judge Beaton relied heavily on Whatcott’s claim under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms that he had a right to disseminate his religious views–and rejected the notion put forth by the prosecution that the two pro-family activists disrupted the educational mission of U-Regina.
Below is YouTube of a Regina Leader Post audio-story with Whatcott’s reaction to the decision, and beneath that the print report by the Leader-Post. You can go to Whatcott’s website HERE, and beneath that an excerpt the Leader-Post’s story on the decision.
Said LaBarbera in response to the ruling:
“I am gratified by Judge Beaton’s well-reasoned decision, and I congratulate my friend Bill Whatcott for once again leading the way in challenging Canada to live up to her ideals of liberty and freedom of conscience. It is preposterous in a country that claims to be free to criminalize dissenting speech at a public university. Yet this is what University of Regina administrators sought to do by cowardly attempting to banish Bill Whatcott and me from their campus. In the process they dishonored their students–who deserved better than clumsy attempts at censorship justified by condescending and odious appeals to ‘protect’ them from ‘hate.’
“Hopefully, this ruling will open up the door to a resurgence of true tolerance and freedom in Canada. The Left in Canada, as in the United States, does not want debate but rather control. They fear unfettered exposure to moral truth and compelling facts about homosexuality–hence their campaign to silence Christians and others who speak out against sexual immorality and gender rebellion.
“The very fact that I was detained and searched at length twice by Border police upon entering Canada–merely because I and AFTAH espouse historic, biblical, Judeo-Christian teachings on homosexuality–reflects escalating ‘thought tyranny’ and anti-intellectualism in Canada which, if allowed to take root, will only lead to more rigid repression against believers in this great land.”
More coming from AFTAH on this story; here is Whatcott’s reaction [order his book “Born in a Graveyard” HERE]:
LaBarbera allowed provisional entry into Canada for ‘Mischief’ trial Oct. 30 stemming from April protest at public university
Canada’s “Hate” Police:Above is an excerpt of the Border Services Agency document issued against Peter LaBarbera when he was originally denied entry into Canada in April on the basis that he and AFTAH “incite hate” in violation of the nation’s Hate Propaganda” law. LaBarbera was subsequently allowed into the country, but later arrested at a peaceful pro-life/pro-family protest at the University of Regina. Click to enlarge.
By Peter LaBarbera
UPDATE from author: After a short meeting in Regina with a Border Services official this morning, I was allowed to travel and speak in Canada until the completion of my trial Thursday upon agreeing to these two provisions:
“While in Canada:
“If I am on private property, and am asked to leave that property by the owner for any reason, I must leave the property immediately;
“If I am issued a direction or command by a police officer or other person in authority, follow that direction immediately.”
REGINA, Saskatchewan, Canada–Customs agents detained this writer (AFTAH president Peter LaBarbera) and did an intense search of my phone, laptop and belongings–as I arrived at Calgary International Airport late last night on the first leg of a trip to Regina, Saskatchewan for my trial on “mischief” charges October 30.
The mischief charges were filed against me and Canadian pro-family activist Bill Whatcott after Whatcott, and then me, refused on free speech grounds to abandon a peaceful protest April 12 against abortion and sodomy at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, a public university. [See AFTAH article HERE and LifeSiteNews article HERE on how I was almost refused entry into Canada on the basis of AFTAH’s alleged “hate.”]
The Calgary Border Services agents confiscated a DVD copy of a new Russian documentary called “Sodom” as potential “hate propaganda” in violation of Canadian law banning material or people who could potentially “incite hate” based on “sexual orientation.”
Ironically, “Sodom”–which I have yet to watch–is available and easily accessible in Canada (and worldwide) on YouTube. Whatcott told me that he had already shared the documentary with his network of Canadian supporters across the country. “Sodom” features an interview with American pro-family leader Scott Lively of Defend the Family International. Lively, who received AFTAH’s American Truth-Teller Award on 2011, is currently running for governor as an independent in Massachusetts.
If the Russian film is deemed “hate propaganda” by the government’s “Prohibited Importation Unit” in Ottawa, it will be destroyed, two border agents informed me. If “Sodom” does not meet that designation, it will be mailed back to my home in Illinois.
Either way, the seizure of the film would make it impossible for me to view and/or present it to others in Canada–were it not easily accessible to everybody with a web connection on YouTube. Such is the folly of state censorship in an Internet age.
Customs hearing today
Canadian pro-family activist Bill Whatcott and AFTAH’s Peter LaBarbera.
Despite my two-and-a-half hour detainment in Calgary, agents ordered me to attend another hearing today (Tuesday) with Immigration officials in Regina at 11:00 A.M.–for “further examination” on my “admissibility” into Canada. Nevertheless, Border Services agents told me that I would be able to attend my “Mischief” trial in Regina on Thursday and that I am “innocent until proven guilty” under Canadian law.
A border agent named Shane Paul (I called him “Paul” because that was on his uniform and I presumed that was his first name) asked me questions about a small speaking engagement I was to have with Whatcott and others this (Tuesday) evening. I was unsure of the location of the meeting, as the venue has been changed three times already–because skittish Canadians pulled out from hosting the event fearing leftist protests. You can read about one cancellation in the Regina Leader-Post HERE (Note: not included in the story is Whatcott’s assertion that the prospective host, Greg Kulak, was not telling the truth when he claimed NOT to know the nature of the event.) By the way, Whatcott distributed thousands of fliers advertising the event–which Kulak’s cowardly pullout rendered meaningless by abandoning the listed location for it.
As an American, let me say that it is remarkable how far official political correctness – enforced and encouraged by sometimes fanatical left-wing activists and abetted by an anti-conservative media – has not only shut down conservative speech in Canada but succeeded in punishing people who run afoul of various liberal ideologies—not limited to pro-homosexualism. For example, the Canadian owners of a conservative website, “Free Dominion,” shut it down after 13 years of operation in January after losing a defamation lawsuit to “human rights” legal activist Richard Warman. They were fined a total of $107,000 and ordered not to print anything negative about the leftist Warman—effectively censoring them as a public forum [See LifeSite article HERE].
In the two years that I have worked closely with Bill Whatcott, I have seen the extraordinary harassment and soft (and hard) tyranny he has had to endure in his quest to get out biblical truth and facts about homosexuality and abortion. Whatcott, who distributes tens of thousands of fliers door-to-door every year, was found guilty of Canada’s “Hate Propaganda” law by Canada’s highest court. Earlier this year, he was denied service by Aaron Rubin, a computer shop in Weybourn because the owner did not like Bill’s views; Whatcott sued under the “human rights” laws and won and–in a demonstration of Christian grace–did not push for a big financial judgment but instead asked Rubin to do volunteer service for a local pro-life group. Rubin opted not to do the service and paid a mere $200 to have it done.
Recently, Whatcott tried to submit a simple ad for his event tonight (where I am to speak) to the Regina Leader-Post newspaper. The ad’s innocuous headline was “Bringing the Light of Christ to Our Culture”–but that did not matter; it was refused anyway. He could have another “human rights” victory in store if he sues the liberal paper for anti-religious discrimination. (Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms ostensibly protects religious freedom.) But even if the ad had run, Whatcott would have been chased out of the venue for the event.
With such relentless leftist pressure led by a few fanatics like Warman, it is only the rare, brave soul like Whatcott who fights on for Truth in Canada, while so many others fall away in fear. (Note that in the Chicago area, AFTAH, too, has been chased out of venues after the leftist activists with the Gay Liberation Network wielded their spurious “hate group” accusation against us.)
Searching my phone, laptop, books and papers–again
Anyway, I cooperated fully with the Border Services “investigation” of me at the Calgary airport, as I did in April at the Regina International Airport. Agent Paul and another Agent with the last name of Meehan went through—as in April—my:
Phone
Laptop
Books (including Dr. Michael Brown’s “Can You Be Gay and Christian?”; his book, “Something Queer Happened to America”; Robert Reilly’s book, “Making Gay OK”; and Frank Turek’s “Correct, Not Politically Corrrect: How Same-Sex Marriage Hurts Everyone”)
Tracts: I brought a bunch of ex-“gay” Stephen Bennett’s tract “I WAS ‘Gay’”; and
Papers
When Shane asked me about Westboro Baptist Church (with its “God Hates Fags” message), I told him that AFTAH has always condemned Westboro, as has every other pro-family group I have worked with. I told them that AFTAH has long condemned violence and genuine hatred against homosexuals or anyone, for that matter.
At one point in the search, Shane asked me if I had children and then I asked him if he had children. He asked me as if offended: “Why do you ask that?” and then said, “I’m gay.” I told him I meant nothing by it and that I ask a lot of people that question. I told him my five children are a tremendous blessing and he said he may want to adopt children some day.
Once Shane’s “gayness” was out in the open, it was almost easier to have a conversation about my work and the larger homosexual issue. I told him that disagreement with homosexuality does not equal “hate,” despite the best efforts of LGBT activists to conflate the two. He and Meehan laughed when I told them that I couldn’t be a “homophobe” because if I truly “feared” homosexuals, I could not do AFTAH’s work, which requires me to be around many homosexuals.
Despite the awkwardness of the situation, it helped this time, compared to my April airport search in Regina, that Shane and Meehan, the two fellows handling my entry at Calgary, were actually interested in my explanation of what I and AFTAH do. They appreciated my defense of civility in the “gay” debate and I think Shane was satisfied that I didn’t hate him or homosexuals in general. I thanked him for his professionalism.
Shane asked me if anything i would present on Wednesday could be construed as “hateful.” I told him no, but explained that they’re is a lively debate going on in the culture about what constitutes “hate” on this question. I explained, and he agreed, that we could have a civil discussion about homosexuality and yet agree to disagree.
Paul discovered in my belongings the Human Right Campaign report, “Exporting Hate,” with its highly unflattering graphics of me and Michael Brown, and Mat Staver. (Others are targeted in the “Hate” booklet, but I only taken copies of the pages with the shadowy images of myself, Brown and Staver.)
He asked me about this quotation accurately attributed to me by the HRC “Export of Hate” hit-piece:
“Kids would ‘be better off in a single-parent household [compared to a homosexual-led household]…because you’re not modeling homosexual behavior. When you have two men raising a young child, that child grows up learning, basically, dysfunction and a sexual perversion as normality.” (Alan Colmes Show, 1/7/14)
Shane seemed especially concerned about my use of the word “perversion” and suggested in so many words that there is no religious (biblical) case for that word. I explained that historically the word has been used in association with homosexuality and that we also make the case that Natural Law opposes homosexuality.
Stay tuned for updates. Please pray for my meeting with Immigration officials today, and for our meeting (if it happens) this evening—and lastly, for Bill’s and my trial Thursday in Regina on the ridiculous “Mischief” charge leveled against us for defending life and sexual morality at—of all places—a public university.
I just talked with our lawyer Michael Weber (part of Tom Schuck’s NSWB lawfirm). The trial date for Peter LaBarbera and I for witnessing at the University of Regina will be October 29, 2014. We were charged with Mischief after we set up abortion signs and one sign saying “Sodomy is a sin,” on the public walkway at the University of Regina back on April 14th. Approximately 20 or so pro-abortion and pro-homosexual protesters set up a counter protest across from us. Notwithstanding that I have two Court of Queen’s Bench decisions affirming my right to protest on public university campuses, Peter and I were arrested and charged and the pro-abortion/pro-homosexual protesters were allowed to continue with their demonstration unmolested.
We appreciate our good friends at Illinois Family Institute for producing this video interview of AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera on his recent detainment and arrest in Canada. Former Moody Radio reporter Monty Larrick conducts the interview. At the end is an address for the Legal Defense Fund for LaBarbera and Canadian Bill Whatcott [or see this link]. The video was published by IFI April 29, 2014; [view it on IFI’s YouTube page HERE]:
This interview with America’s Survival President Cliff Kincaid aired on AS’s Roku channel April 24, 2014. In discussing homosexuality and pedophilia, Kincaid references a video by homosexual Walter Lee Hampton complaining about seeing so many homosexual men in thir 30’s, 40’s and even 50’s in sexual relationships with minor boys [go HERE to view]. At about 17:45 the discussion shifts to LaBarbera recounting his run-in with Canada’s homosexuality-affirming “hate” politics, culminating in his arrest for protesting peacefully with Bill Whatcott at University of Regina, in Satchatchewan. [Go HERE to watch this on YouTube.] America’s Survival writes:
Pedophiles Exposed! Peter LaBarbera on Gay Media Power
The mother of the alleged victim of a powerful Hollywood pedophile ring says she tried for years to interest the media in the story. Michael Egan’s mother Bonnie Mound said, “I wrote every news channel, every magazine, every talk show host, everybody, from Oprah to ‘20/20‘ to ‘60 Minutes‘…. Nobody wanted to do anything because of the high-profile people involved.” Although Egan attorney Jeff Herman said the suits are not about homosexuality, but rather pedophilia and child abuse, Peter LaBarbera of the group Americans for Truth notes that the founder of the modern gay rights movement, Harry Hay, was a communist who supported the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). LaBarbera was recently arrested and jailed in Canada for distributing pro-family values literature on the campus of the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada.
The following commentary by Sun News “Byline” host and Toronto Sun columnist Brian Lilley aired April 15, 2014, regarding the arrest at the University of Regina (in Saskatchewan, Canada) Monday of Canadian pro-family/pro-life activist Bill Whatcott and American AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera:
