A former Chilliwack school trustee is defending himself against hate speech more than six years after expressing his opposition to transitioning children.In a video posted by Gays Against Grooming Canada, Barry Neufeld said comments he made online in 2017 were somewhat misinterpreted. “I said that people who transition children are guilty of child abuse, and I was thinking of the therapists, the pharmacists, the endocrinologists and the surgeons who are damaging children's bodies. But it was the school teachers that took offence of that because they support that process,” Neufeld said.The British Columbia Teachers Federation filed a complaint against Neufeld on behalf of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association.“My crime was being critical of the SOGI 123 program, which was implemented secretly without knowledge of publicly elected school trustees. I didn't see it as benefiting children. And in the last six years, as more and more research has come in, it's been discovered that children who transition, that does them more harm than good,” Neufeld said.For decades, Neufeld had a career helping at-risk children, usually foster kids. He said transitioning became a trend after smart phones and school materials promoted it.“Kids used to cut themselves or drug themselves or starve themselves, but now the trend is to to trans themselves. It's a trendy thing. It's catching on like a social contagion,” he said.Neufeld said his accusers, the Chilliwack teachers’ association, failed to silence him and this means he is being made to answer for thousands of pages of evidence, including 500 pages of online comments.In an interview with Western Standard, Neufeld said, the legal representation trustees typically have access to fell through after he refused a settlement offer.“They wanted a public apology, and they want you to promise to never run for public office again, and they want you to take sensitivity training so you can so you understand what transgender is. And finally, they want you to donate $50,000 to an LGBTQ charity. But they said, don't worry about the $50,000, the insurance will cover that.”Neufeld said he gave the offer “some pretty serious thought” but refused.“Very politely, I said, ‘No, I'm not going to apologize. They have never given me the names of anybody that I have threatened or harmed. Secondly, they have no right to tell me that I can't run for public office. Thirdly, I've been studying this issue for the last six and a half years. I know both sides of the argument, and nothing will convince me that transitioning children is a good idea. Finally, even if the $50,000 isn't mine, I don't want to see $50,000 go to an organization that might encourage children to damage their bodies.’”Two weeks of tribunal hearings for Neufeld start October 21, two days after the provincial election. He finds irony that a human rights complaint can wait longer than criminal proceedings.“If I was convicted of bloody murder, the crown would have 18 months to prove their case, and if they couldn't prove it, the criminal court would throw it out for abuse of process. This has dragged on for six and a half years,” he said.Neufeld said the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms said they didn’t have enough spare resources to help at this point. He is left to pay administrative expenses as a lay counsellor helps him with the human rights case.“If they succeed in convicting me of hate speech, then they will go after the many other organizations that are also agreeing with me and having the same opinion. In other words, they're going to make a criminal code offense to criticize gender ideology in the schools,” Neufeld predicted.Neufeld will also be in court December 13 to appeal a defamation ruling against him. In an interview Neufeld said a fellow school board candidate had lost to “a striptease artist.” Candidate Carin Bodnar, unnamed in his comments, had spoofed Miley Cyrus in the video below. She remains on the Chilliwack School Board.
