Canadian father who refuses to accept child's gender transition is jailed

(Photo: Unsplash)

A Canadian father who strongly objects to his transgender child transitioning has been jailed after discussing the case publicly.

The father from British Columbia, named only as CD, was arrested last Tuesday for breaching court orders banning him from revealing the identities of his child, ex-wife and medical professionals providing treatment.

The teenager, known only as AB, was born female but now identifies as male and is transitioning with the mother's support, but CD continues to refer to his child publicly as his daughter and uses female pronouns. 

CD has fought against AB's transition but lost in the Court of Appeal last year, at which time he was ordered to refer to AB using preferred pronouns and name, and banned from naming his child, ex-wife and medical professionals publicly. 

He is now facing contempt of court charges over a YouTube interview on the case in June 2020, and a crowdfunding appeal last December in which he is alleged to have shared information that may have revealed the identities of himself, AB and his ex-wife. 

Justice Michael Tammen subsequently ruled on Friday that he should be detained until a hearing in mid-April relating to the contempt of court charges.

Explaining his decision, he said CD's refusal to abide by the court orders undermines confidence in the justice system. 

The judge added that CD's actions violate his child's privacy rights in a way that could cause psychological harm, and that CD would most likely continue to breach the court orders if he were to be released. 

"CD's detention is necessary to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice," Tammen said.