Canadian priest faces jail for criticizing trans event for children
A priest faces jail for refusing to write a court-ordered apology for criticizing a children's trans event.
On December 2, 2025, it became known that in Canada, Protestant pastor Derek Reimer may face prison after publicly criticizing a drag queen story time for very young children at a Calgary public library. Simply refusing to sign a text he considers false could land him behind bars, reports Tribune Chrétienne.
According to the publication, the pastor criticized the so-called reading of stories by trans artists – sessions held in libraries where men in drag, heavily made up and dressed in hypersexualized costumes, read stories to children, explaining that gender is fluid, that identity can be changed at will, and that drag models represent a form of freedom to emulate . In Reimer's opinion, and that of many parents, such events "sow profound confusion in the minds of children by deliberately blurring the natural and moral landmarks of Christian anthropology."
The reason for the prosecution was a video that the pastor published after his visit to the library in 2023. He asked the institution's staff why a state structure organizes such activities for minors and left the library at their request. Nevertheless, this lawful visit and subsequent publication caused a disproportionately harsh reaction – initially a year of house arrest, and now the threat of prison for refusing to sign an apology he considers false and untrue.
Pastor Reimer claims that the pressure is ideological in nature. According to him, a probation officer stated that his goal is to "break Reimer's traditional views on the LGBTQ community," turning the justice system into a mechanism of ideological re-education. The judge, meanwhile, dismissed arguments about freedom of conscience and religion, calling them "irrelevant".
The Pastor Reimer case, Christian human rights advocates emphasize, demonstrates how far the ideology has gone when criticism of sexualized shows for children becomes a violation of the law, and refusal to lie becomes a criminal offense. The pastor believes that the state is trying to force him into moral submission and declares that he cannot forsake the truth for his own safety.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the strongest woman in the world turned out to be a man.
