By Jeff Sandes
Special to the Western Standard
with files by Alex Zoltan
OTTAWA — Called “Mayday, Kids In Crisis!,” organizer Jeff Evely has brought together a collection of advocates, authors and detransitioners for his event on Tuesday, hoping to be joined by other supporters and people looking for information on the issue.
“We’re going to Ottawa to end childhood transition in Canada, and we’re bringing a panel of experts and those with lived experience of the harms of gender ideology for the town hall,” Evely said in an interview with the Western Standard.
"It’s time for us to join the civilized world. All these countries in Europe are starting to restrict and/or ban it. The United States is making leaps and bounds toward getting rid of it altogether. And nobody is even talking about this in Canada.”
The greatest roadblock to stopping gender affirming care in children, according to Evely, was the passage of Bill C-4 in December, 2021. The bill changed the Criminal Code to make conversion therapy a crime.
According to the bill, passed in nine days, conversion therapy is defined as any practice, treatment, or service designed to change a person's sexual orientation to heterosexual, or to change a person's gender identity to their gender assigned at birth. Criminal offences include promoting, causing and profiting from conversion therapy practices.
To date, nobody has been charged in Canada since the Criminal Code was amended, but opponents to the bill, like Evely, believe the medical community has abandoned exploring other factors which may contribute to a child, or anyone, having a desire to transition.
“That is the real hurdle here in Canada,” Evely said. “None of our politicians will even touch this because of the unanimous vote on Bill C-4. The gender affirming care model is the one that’s still in practice here, and it’s the only legal option for a kid who professes gender dysphoria in Canada. It’s an odious bill that I really believe should be repealed.
“Everybody thinks it’s about praying the gay away, but there’s nothing in there. It doesn’t say anything about coercion. It doesn’t say anything about force. It doesn’t say anything about abuse. It just says causing someone to go from being gay to straight, or to go from being trans to cis.”
“That is the real hurdle here in Canada,” Evely said. “None of our politicians will even touch this because of the unanimous vote on Bill C-4. The gender affirming care model is the one that’s still in practice here, and it’s the only legal option for a kid who professes gender dysphoria in Canada. It’s an odious bill that I really believe should be repealed.
“Everybody thinks it’s about praying the gay away, but there’s nothing in there. It doesn’t say anything about coercion. It doesn’t say anything about force. It doesn’t say anything about abuse. It just says causing someone to go from being gay to straight, or to go from being trans to cis.”
Evely created controversy last week when he released audio recordings of meetings he had with two doctors when his daughter was 16 and 17-years old, Dr. Stephen Feder and Dr. Maria Kielly. They worked in the Gender Diversity Clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
During the conversations Evely released, he asked for research to confirm doctors had a scientific analysis to validate his daughter’s desire to transition was genuine and not because of factors such as trauma, depression or social pressure. Dr. Kielly said research existed, but said, “We’re not going to be able to give you that evidence,” after Evely pressed her for it.
The Western Standard reached out to Dr. Kielly for comment but did not receive a reply.
Chris Elston is a well-travelled, Canadian activist who has voiced his opposition to medical and social gender transition for minors in several countries. Better known as “Billboard Chris,” he posts his interactions with people to social media while he wears a sandwich board with different messages opposing gender affirming care toward children. While he won’t be at the Mayday event, he supports any opportunity to educate people on the topic.
“We’ve had big rallies in Ottawa before,” he told the Western Standard. “I’m sure some protesters will show up, and maybe there will be some local coverage. But I never get discouraged with all of these rallies. Every time you have anything like this, you’re reaching people, you’re educating people, and it’s the conversations that turn things around. Because the truth is very powerful, and this ideology has only been successful because it relies on suppressing the truth, and it’s entirely based on lies.”
Health ministries around the world have begun changing their policies toward gender affirming care, echoing Elston’s message that medicine’s recent approach is meeting push back.
Last month, a Finnish study highlighted a drastic rise in psychiatric morbidity (mental illnesses) among adolescents who went through a gender transition, with the authors emphasizing the importance of identifying and treating mental health problems among young people experiencing gender dysphoria.
“So, Finland was the first (country) to really look into this and basically stopped doing this to kids,” Elston said. “Sweden followed. Then we had the Cass Review in England showing that there’s no evidence this is helping kids. The US is the only place where you have official bans being put into place, in addition to Alberta for kids under 16, which isn’t good enough, but at least it’s a start. New Zealand completely stopped giving kids puberty blockers. Yet, in Canada, our health body completely ignores all the evidence that’s done all around the world.
“We’re absolutely on the right side of history because what’s going on is one of the greatest child abuse scandals in history. And the positive message that we should be sending our children is that they’re beautiful just as they are, no drugs or scalpels needed.”
The majority of gender related care falls under the category of medicine, and protocol would be left to the provinces and territories, according to a spokesperson for Health Canada who responded to a request for comment by e-mail.
He added: “Assertions that children can receive medical or surgical interventions without appropriate medical assessment do not reflect the regulatory and clinical frameworks in place in Canada. In all cases, medical diagnoses and treatment decisions must be made by regulated health professionals in accordance with established clinical practice guidelines.”
However, Sarah Elizher questions how relevant those established guidelines are.
Elizher feels betrayed by Canada’s medical system after her care and guidance all seemed to fast track her toward transitioning.
The Western Standard intends to have two reporters on the ground for tomorrow's event in Ottawa.