VANCOUVER— The BC Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that former Chilliwack Board of Education trustee Barry Neufeld must pay $750,000 to LGBTQ members of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association over comments deemed offensive.The tribunal argued that his words amounted to "injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect" of the aforementioned class, thus the punishment was "reasonable, if not modest."Since 2017, Neufeld has been a vocal critic of sexual orientation and gender identity being taught in schools via the SOGI 123 framework. He referred to it as a "weapon of propaganda" and deemed the concept of gender identity to be a "biologically absurd theory."Neufeld argued that he was simply targeting the ideology, not individuals who happen to identify as LGBTQ, however the tribunal ruled that his comments displayed an "existential denial" of transgender people.."A person does not need to believe in Christianity to accept that another person is Christian," the tribunal wrote. "However, to accept that a person is transgender, one must accept that their gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth."They went on to argue that "calling transness 'gender ideology' allows anti-trans activists to hide behind a veneer of reasonableness.""Referring to 'gender ideology' or 'transgenderism' — '-ism' denoting a belief or ideology such as capitalism or communism — pushes the idea that trans people have an agenda rather than being just another demographic group," they added. "As this decision illustrates, such terms can create the conditions for discrimination and hatred to flourish."The tribunal also took aim at Neufeld's stance against medically-transitioning minors, which he has repeatedly labelled "child abuse.""Contrary to Mr. Neufeld’s view, gender affirming recognition and care for trans and gender diverse children is life saving," they wrote.
