![\"John](\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/nationalpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/John-Cleese-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216&sig=XRXJkEdJTrT1QXQfmLiQMQ\")
British comedy elder John Cleese has announced that he will be steering clear of British Columbia on an upcoming Canadian tour, owing to fears that he will be prosecuted for non-adherence to gender ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cleese, 86, made the declaration in a Saturday social media post issued in response to a $750,000 fine being imposed on a former Chilliwack, B.C. school trustee who refuses to believe that gender is a \u201csocial construct.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat a pity! I\u2019m arranging a theatrical tour of Canada this Fall, and now I won\u2019t be able to risk doing any shows in British Columbia,\u201d wrote Cleese<\/a>, adding, \u201cI was really looking forward to coming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a Feb. 18 ruling by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, former trustee Barry Neufeld was ordered to pay $750,000 to an unnamed consortium of transgender teachers because he had publicly questioned the province\u2019s policy that an individual\u2019s gender is whatever he or she declares it to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 143-page decision specified that one of Neufeld\u2019s chief violations was his stated belief that \u201cseparating gender identity from assigned biological sex is a fiction and an \u2018ideology\u2019 to be opposed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As such, Neufeld was declared to have engaged in \u201cextremely serious and damaging\u201d speech, as well as transgender \u201cerasure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A long-serving trustee for the Chilliwack School District, Neufeld had been an early public critic of efforts to enshrine gender identity within the B.C. school curriculum. It\u2019s for that reason that his case<\/a> before the tribunal was brought by the B.C. Teachers Federation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the decision was not limited to Neufeld\u2019s actions as a trustee. Under the terms of the decision, anyone in B.C. could presumably face similar sanction under the B.C. Human Rights Code for echoing the same views as Neufeld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA person does not need to believe in Christianity to accept that another person is Christian. However, to accept that a person is transgender, one must accept that their gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth,\u201d the tribunal decision read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cleese has previously mocked the policy of self-identified gender. In 2020, he wrote in a social media post \u201cdeep down, I want to be a Cambodian police woman. Is that allowed, or am I being unrealistic?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n B.C. Human Rights Tribunal cases have been brought against non-citizens such as Cleese, and they\u2019ve also been pursued against comedians making comments as part of a performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2011, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ordered comedian Guy Earle to pay $15,000 to an audience member who had alleged \u201clasting physical and psychological effect\u201d from her objection to his set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cleese is one of four surviving members of the legendary Monty Python sketch comedy troupe, and was the creator of the British sitcom Fawlty Towers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n B.C. has been a regular stop of his, particularly in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2013, he scheduled multiple sold-out Vancouver show dates as part of his Last Time To See Me Before I Die tour. In 2022, Vancouver was one of the stops on his An Evening of Exceptional Silliness tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod I love this city,\u201d he told CBC during a 2014 visit to Vancouver as part of a book tour. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to have the sea around you\u2026 and wonderful Chinese food. It\u2019s just a great place.\u201d (National Post, February 25, 2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Cleese is among the most gifted comic writers and actors of the late 20th Century. After last week’s hideous $750,000 penalty meted out to former school trustee Barry Neufeld for challenging the SODI gender-bending school sex-education curriculum. The brutal penalty was assessed against an 80-year old man living on his pension in a 40-year old trailer with his 1990s car. B.C. Human Rights Tribunal cases have been brought against non-citizens such as Cleese, and also against comedians making comments as part of a performance<\/p>\n\n\n\n British comedy elder John Cleese has announced that he will be steering clear of British Columbia on an upcoming Canadian tour, owing to fears that he will be prosecuted for non-adherence to gender ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cleese, 86, made the declaration in a Saturday social media post issued in response to a $750,000 fine being imposed on a former Chilliwack, B.C. school trustee who refuses to believe that gender is a \u201csocial construct.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat a pity! I\u2019m arranging a theatrical tour of Canada this Fall, and now I won\u2019t be able to risk doing any shows in British Columbia,\u201d wrote Cleese<\/a>, adding, \u201cI was really looking forward to coming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a Feb. 18 ruling by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, former trustee Barry Neufeld was ordered to pay $750,000 to an unnamed consortium of transgender teachers because he had publicly questioned the province\u2019s policy that an individual\u2019s gender is whatever he or she declares it to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 143-page decision specified that one of Neufeld\u2019s chief violations was his stated belief that \u201cseparating gender identity from assigned biological sex is a fiction and an \u2018ideology\u2019 to be opposed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As such, Neufeld was declared to have engaged in \u201cextremely serious and damaging\u201d speech, as well as transgender \u201cerasure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A long-serving trustee for the Chilliwack School District, Neufeld had been an early public critic of efforts to enshrine gender identity within the B.C. school curriculum. It\u2019s for that reason that his case<\/a> before the tribunal was brought by the B.C. Teachers Federation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the decision was not limited to Neufeld\u2019s actions as a trustee. Under the terms of the decision, anyone in B.C. could presumably face similar sanction under the B.C. Human Rights Code for echoing the same views as Neufeld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA person does not need to believe in Christianity to accept that another person is Christian. However, to accept that a person is transgender, one must accept that their gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth,\u201d the tribunal decision read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cleese has previously mocked the policy of self-identified gender. In 2020, he wrote in a social media post \u201cdeep down, I want to be a Cambodian police woman. Is that allowed, or am I being unrealistic?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n B.C. Human Rights Tribunal cases have been brought against non-citizens such as Cleese, and they\u2019ve also been pursued against comedians making comments as part of a performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2011, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ordered comedian Guy Earle to pay $15,000 to an audience member who had alleged \u201clasting physical and psychological effect\u201d from her objection to his set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cleese is one of four surviving members of the legendary Monty Python sketch comedy troupe, and was the creator of the British sitcom Fawlty Towers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n B.C. has been a regular stop of his, particularly in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2013, he scheduled multiple sold-out Vancouver show dates as part of his Last Time To See Me Before I Die tour. In 2022, Vancouver was one of the stops on his An Evening of Exceptional Silliness tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod I love this city,\u201d he told CBC during a 2014 visit to Vancouver as part of a book tour. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to have the sea around you\u2026 and wonderful Chinese food. It\u2019s just a great place.\u201d (National Post, February 25, 2026)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The BC Human Rights’ Tribunal’s Hetero-Hating, Christian-hating, Censorship-loving Rulings Have Cost Vancouver \u00a0Visit By Comedian John Cleese John Cleese is among the most gifted comic writers and actors of the late 20th Century. After last week’s hideous $750,000 penalty meted … Continue reading The BC Human Rights’ Tribunal’s Hetero-Hating, Christian-hating, Censorship-loving Rulings Have Cost Vancouver Visit By Comedian John Cleese<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
John Cleese, who, like Mr. Neufeld, believes that there are two sexes — man and woman — loves Vancouver but doesn’t want to risk persecution by the human rights STASI. Cleese said: “I won\u2019t be able to risk doing any shows in British Columbia. ….Cleese has previously mocked the policy of self-identified gender. In 2020, he wrote in a social media post \u201cdeep down, I want to be a Cambodian police woman. Is that allowed, or am I being unrealistic?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
John Cleese says he’s now avoiding B.C. because of crackdown on gender ideology criticism<\/h1>\n\n\n\n