BC Father Who Opposed Child’s Gender Transition Celebrates ‘Big Win’ in Court

A B.C. court building in Vancouver in a file photo. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

A British Columbia father who was in and out of court for five years pursuing legal attempts to stop his teenaged child from getting cross-sex hormones is celebrating after what he calls a “big win” in court.

In a decision delivered on Aug. 9, the B.C. Court of Appeal declared C.D., as he is known in court documents, would not have to pay a $30,000 fine or serve the remainder of a six-month jail sentence for criminal contempt. The charges related to the father’s public disclosure of names and details protected by a judge’s order. He spent 69 days in jail before being released on bail and was incarcerated one more day before his hearing on May 31.

The court has prohibited the publication of information that could identify the child, including the name of the father.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, C.D. said he was “very, very happy” to have the long odyssey of court appearances wind down with welcome news. He said while he was not “exonerated,” it signalled the previous sentence was “overkill.”

“This is a pretty big win, I got everything I wanted … after so many losses on so many fronts, in so many different things,” he said.

“The benefit of such terrible rulings is they were so bad that people couldn’t ignore how bad things had gotten here in terms of what was going on in the courts.”

Long Legal Journey

In 2018, when C.D.’s daughter was 14, the father sought a court injunction to stop scheduled testosterone treatments that would transition the teenager to a male. The action was delayed but did not stop the procedures.

Orders by Justice Bowden dated Feb. 27, 2019, forbade the father from expressing disapproval of the medical transition or referring to his child as a girl or by the birth name. Such actions, the judge said, would be considered “family violence.” These aspects were overturned at the Court of Appeal in 2020.

A court order later in 2019 forbade the father to share his story with media outlets in ways that would directly or indirectly allow his child to be identified, such as using his own name or the child’s name. The names of doctors involved in the transition were also protected from publication.

C.D. defied these terms in online postings, leading to a charge of criminal contempt against him on July 30, 2020. As the April 2021 trial date approached, C.D. decided to plead guilty.

According to court documents, the Crown had offered to support a joint submission in favour of a 45-day prison sentence if C.D. agreed to plead guilty. However, C.D.’s counsel at the time did not accept the offer, apparently hoping to obtain a conditional discharge and avoid C.D. having a criminal record.

As a result, on April 16, 2021, the father was sentenced to six months in jail and 18 months probation, and ordered to pay $30,000 to charity.

The father was released on bail after 69 days in jail. On May 31, he had a hearing in the Vancouver Court of Appeal where his current counsel argued that C.D. suffered due to poor legal representation and should not return to prison or pay a fine.

The B.C. Court of Appeal agreed in its Aug. 9 decision, ruling, “A reasonably competent lawyer would have known, or found out, that the Crown’s offer was exceptionally good for C.D. and that it would have been extremely difficult for the sentencing judge to reject a joint submission.”

C.D.’s original sentence was reduced to “time served” and the fine against him was dismissed.

‘Victims’

The father said he “should have been a bit more careful” in sharing some of the information about his child, but was otherwise glad he remained vocal. He said he’s looking forward to getting his passport back and travelling outside of B.C. for the first time in years. However, his relationship with his children remains estranged.

“They all went with their mom, they all said I’m a transphobe, I’m tearing the family apart with these ideas that aren’t all loving, and they bought into it. But they were heavily pressured by all of these activists,” the father said.

“The poor kids, they were complete victims.”

C.D. laments that parents remain helpless to stop a child’s gender transition. He said people still reach out to him as they walk through similar journeys with their children.

“Once the government has their hands on your child, and they’re pushing it, it’s not like you can stop it. That’s the frustrating part. There’s not much, honestly, you can do,” he said.

“Hopefully a lot of what people have learned inspires them not to just cave in. They can still continue to say, ‘Hey, this is what they did to my child,’ and just be courageous. Also, we have more people who now see the signs and get their child away from it. I think that’s more important.”

‘Times Are Changing’

C.D. said his reduced sentence should encourage parents, and that a recent “pushback“ on gender ideology in schools ”is a sign that the times are changing.” He said a recent call by activist Kamel El-Cheikh for a “Million Person March“ in Canada against LGBT ideology in schools would not have happened in 2018.

“I think we’re well on our way. I worry about Canada still, but there’s Muslims now getting involved … [whereas it] has been the Christian community, for the most part, carrying the bag on this, and even 90 percent of them were asleep five years ago,” C.D. said.

“The area in Canada where we suffer the most is in politics. We have some good [politicians] ... but they’re not in that position right now [to mandate change].”

C.D. said he is encouraged by developments south of the border where states such as Florida have banned gender identity and sexual orientation teachings from schools and made medical transitioning for minors illegal.

“Five years ago, none of that was going on. It was ‘affirm, affirm.’ It was a different world. In my mind, so much has changed. I feel pretty good about it,” he said.

“This is my swan song with this when things are going in the right direction, and it’s all in good hands.”