{"id":2679,"date":"2019-02-14T23:20:42","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T04:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=2679"},"modified":"2019-02-14T23:20:42","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T04:20:42","slug":"christian-activist-willing-to-go-to-jail-on-lgbt-hate-crime-charge-im-standing-for-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=2679","title":{"rendered":"Christian activist willing to go to jail on LGBT hate crime charge: \u2018I\u2019m standing for Jesus\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"gmail-article-title\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-large; color: #ff0000;\">Christian activist willing to go to jail on LGBT hate crime charge: \u2018I\u2019m standing for Jesus\u2019 <\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<header id=\"gmail-header\" class=\"gmail-\">\n<div class=\"gmail-container\">\n<nav class=\"gmail-utility-nav\"><\/nav>\n<nav id=\"editions-nav\" class=\"gmail-btn-group\"><\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div id=\"gmail-content\" role=\"main\">\n<div id=\"gmail-article-container\" class=\"gmail-\">\n<article class=\"gmail-article-wrapper gmail-print-area\">\n<figure class=\"gmail-article-featured-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gmail-img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/images\/made\/images\/local\/Bill_Whatcott_Sept_2018_Toronto_810_500_75_s_c1.jpg\" alt=\"Featured Image\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gmail-article-text-wrapper\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">TORONTO, February 14, 2019 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/\">LifeSiteNews<\/a>) \u2014 Ontario\u2019s attorney general is proceeding by direct indictment against a Christian activist charged with criminally inciting hatred against \u201cthe gay community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Bill Whatcott, 52, was in court again Thursday to answer to the Criminal Code charge, which carries a punishment of up to two years in jail.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Ontario Superior Court Justice Nancy Spies scheduled a judicial pre-trial \u2014 an in-chambers meeting to discuss trial procedure \u2014 for March 19.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">His lawyer, Daniel Santoro, is asking that Whatcott be tried by judge and jury.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cMy alleged crime is preaching the Gospel and sharing accurate information on the dangers of homosexuality at the Toronto homosexual Pride Parade in 2016,\u201d Whatcott said in a live<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bill.whatcott\/videos\/10156297152866886\/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBriEkdEIKvBJqmIp9jyme8E-Htuxn-6A3QW-86Yn7YfTofmYiuAfVqS5mdErlRDkLWE7QysEqBE4s0ADrifqWBld8S1o0DWTt5b2QKkIBUDLl4s4BMoXkFO-vwCwV_fKyYHD93exaFelgbIhxJ14VM40vXHCD5l0VwWDZMnBpMsYaPBXSsJkWwbKTFPu4G6tjgVHfHWJDsCc1LKKAYF2okInUN8uK2aksZPPqA8SaFlPFmSBuyzWOoboPadc95uGVkst5kkXk9jMD5ssCk2JXLHD3XuaRM6Mb3J6lTUsG-FEcjZh4YumGEV8c8UZMEZpWn8Jihy9GCJlD0aGLkysxFDO1yrGPw3NKHmBXFr6zmNJenMn6Oq1wj8YUB&amp;__tn__=-y.g\"> Facebook<\/a> post before his court appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cI\u2019m very prepared to pay the price. I\u2019m certainly prepared to go to jail,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cI am standing for Jesus here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cMisplaced hope\u201d in Doug Ford Tories<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">He and his supporters had a \u201cmisplaced hope\u201d that Doug Ford\u2019s Progressive Conservative government would drop what he says is a \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d charge, Whatcott told LifeSiteNews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Liberal Attorney General Yasir Naqvi authorized the hate crime charge two months before losing his seat in Ford\u2019s landslide June victory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Since then, 54,143 people have signed a CitizenGo (<a href=\"https:\/\/citizengo.org\/en-ca\/pr\/163468-christian-charged-hate-crime-sharing-truth\">here<\/a>) and LifeSiteNews (<a href=\"https:\/\/lifepetitions.com\/petition\/petition-tell-canada-to-stop-harassing-christian-pro-family-activist\">here<\/a>) petitions asking Attorney General Caroline Mulroney to drop the charges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Instead, Mulroney\u2019s office authorized the Crown on January 21 to proceed by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca\/eng\/pub\/fpsd-sfpg\/fps-sfp\/tpd\/p3\/ch06.html\"> direct indictment<\/a>, ministry spokesman Brian Gray told LifeSiteNews in an email, adding that he could not comment further on a case before the courts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cThe direct indictment removed Bill\u2019s right to discover witnesses and have the case adjudicated for sufficiency of evidence at a preliminary hearing,\u201d Santoro told LifeSiteNews in an email.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cWe also confirmed on the record the election of judge and jury as mode of trial, and I will be requesting further disclosure of the Crown,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cZombie safe-sex\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">The charge dates back to 2016, when Whatcott registered in the Toronto Pride Parade under the pseudonym Robert Clinton on behalf of the<a href=\"http:\/\/gaypotassn.com\/\"> Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association<\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">He and several others marched in the parade disguised in skintight green bodysuits and face masks, and distributed 3,000 kits on \u201cZombie Safe Sex\u201d that included a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.massresistance.org\/docs\/gen3\/18b\/Bill-Whatcott-arrest-warrant\/images\/Gay-Zombies-flier.pdf\"> flyer<\/a> warning of the physical and spiritual dangers of homosexual activity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cNatural law is clear, homosexuality is incompatible with human nature. Disease, death and confusion are the sad and sordid realities of the homosexual lifestyle,\u201d it read.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">The flyer featured images of anal warts, a mottled corpse described as an \u201cAIDS fatality,\u201d and another of \u201cgenital warts in the mouth\u201d set next to a headshot of an open-mouthed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">It excoriated the \u201chomosexual activism\u201d of Trudeau, former Liberal Defence Minister Bill Graham, and former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">After a two-year investigation, Toronto Police Service issued a Canada-wide warrant for Whatcott in May 2018, and he turned himself in to Calgary police in June.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">After a weekend in a Toronto jail, Whatcott was released on $5,000 bail with several conditions, including he surrender his passport.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Whatcott was also subject to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifesitenews.com\/news\/judge-throws-out-suit-against-christians-dressed-as-gay-zombies-to-evangeli\">$104 million<\/a> defamation class action lawsuit launched by lawyer Douglas Elliott.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">An Ontario judge threw out the case in March 2017 but ordered Whatcott to disclose names of fellow \u201czombies\u201d and \u201cunidentified financial backers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">That order is on hold pending appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Canada turning into a \u201cNazi, communist state\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">The Supreme Court of Canada in 2013 upheld a decision by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission that two of Whatcott\u2019s pamphlets on homosexuality were \u201chate speech.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">While a crippling blow to free speech, the top court was ruling on whether Whatcott breached the province\u2019s human rights code \u2013 not that he had committed a crime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Canadians should be alarmed at what\u2019s happening to Whatcott, said Pastor Art Pawlowski, founder of Calgary\u2019s Street Church.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cWe\u2019re turning Canada into a Nazi state, into a communist state, where if you voice your politically incorrect views, you will be attacked by the forces of the government,\u201d he told LifeSiteNews in an earlier interview.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Meanwhile, the Canada Anti-Hate Network (CAN) has lauded the hate crime prosecution, describing Whatcott as a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ebalgord\/status\/1008676244509118470\">notorious homophobe<\/a>,\u201d and \u201ca leading figure in the dissemination of homophobic hate propaganda in Canada for years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Whatcott is also waiting for a ruling from the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal on a discrimination complaint filed by transgender activist Morgane Oger, formerly Ronan Oger, which was heard over five days in December.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Whatcott, who lives in Alberta with his wife and two children, says he lost his job as an oilfield bus driver as a result of the hate crime charge, but he doesn\u2019t regret his actions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cUnworthy as I am, I think the Lord wanted me to do it,\u201d he told LifeSiteNews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">\u201cSomebody had to speak out. My flyer simply told the truth from a Christian perspective.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Whatcott\u2019s fundraising page to cover his legal fees can be found at wife Jadranka Whatcott\u2019s GoGetFunding page<a href=\"https:\/\/gogetfunding.com\/christian-persecution-of-whatcott-family\/\"> here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christian activist willing to go to jail on LGBT hate crime charge: \u2018I\u2019m standing for Jesus\u2019 TORONTO, February 14, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) \u2014 Ontario\u2019s attorney general is proceeding by direct indictment against a Christian activist charged with criminally inciting hatred against &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=2679\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[770,1526,94,1525,1358,1527,1524,1042],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2679"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2680,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2679\/revisions\/2680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}