A Canadian father’s personal fight against authoritarian transgenderism marked a minor victory in an appeals court: “…my conscience is clean on that.”
For some, the Orwellian mania of alphabet activists could be contained within a passive boycott of Bud Light, an end to shopping at Target or cancelation of a Disney+ subscription. For Robert Hoogland, the issue literally hit home and had landed him behind bars for “misgendering” his own daughter.
Featured anonymously in their documentary “What is a Woman?” the father recently spoke with The Daily Wire to report his early release from jail following a win in the British Columbia Court of Appeal.
“I expected that I would finish — if not all of that six months, a big chunk of it [in prison]. This is a huge win, because what it does is it was setting a precedent — and what they wanted was a real deterrent for parents, especially when they are standing up against the trans agenda, with what’s being pushed through the schools, by the school counselors and all of these different things,” he explained.
Dating back to 2018, the father took legal action against a children’s hospital that intended to inject his then-13-year-old daughter with testosterone. That legal battle resulted in a court ruling she could proceed and that he could not publicly “misgender” her.
A 2017 law compelling speech in Canada supported the court’s decision, but Hoogland did not comply and in 2021 he surrendered himself after a warrant was issued for his arrest by the attorney general of British Columbia. His crime was referring to his daughter as his daughter in an interview with The Federalist or, as the court called it, “family violence.”
Canadian Father JAILED for Violating a Court Order to Use His Trans Child’s Preferred Pronouns https://t.co/KJ8ye33ioI
— BizPac Review (@BIZPACReview) March 19, 2021
“The hardest part is knowing that one day you have a healthy child, and no matter how much you’re fighting to protect that child of yours — who you love, and as a parent, it’s your responsibility to protect your child from these things — that all you can simply do is watch the tragedy unfold, and your hands are tied,” the father explained.
“One day your child is healthy and the next day your child is on testosterone,” he said to the Daily Wire. “I think that’s the hardest part of it all, is being — I don’t know what the word is, just it’s helpless, I guess. Just that sense of being helpless.”
A reason why had not been provided, but as it happened the majority of Hoogland’s time incarcerated was spent in solitary confinement because, while other inmates appeared in court via video, he was transported for in-person appearances. COVID quarantine rules meant each time required a new stint separated from the general population.
The father’s account to the Daily Wire was published the same day that the Canadian government updated their travel advisory for “2SLGBTQI+ travellers” out of concern they might face discrimination in the United States.
Canada breathlessly issues travel advisory to ‘2SLGBTQI persons’ visiting the US https://t.co/WnpoEUf9WF via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) August 30, 2023
In addition to his release, Hoogland explained that an imposed fine of $30,000 had been dropped by the judge along with other conditions, a positive sign for others who may have been cowed into silence or inaction because of the original punishment doled out to him. “To have a punishment that’s six months in prison and a $30,000 fine — I mean, not many parents are gonna say, ‘Hey, I’m willing to take that risk.'”
“There’s momentum in Canada now, too. The tide is turning, and to finally get a big win after just all these horrific losses and the way things were going — I think that’s just critical for morale, at the very least,” he added.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t had contact with his daughter since 2019 and he said, “I’m hoping one day, when my child realizes, when [she] possibly detransitions — I’m waiting. I’m waiting with open arms for that day.”
In the meantime, there is a sixty-day window in which his release can be appealed to the Canadian Supreme Court. As to what he has endured thus far and how he would react faced with a child’s regret, Hoogland said, “At least I can always say, ‘Hey, I tried, and you can look it up online; even I tried really hard and even I wasn’t able to do it with everything I gave it. But I tried…so my conscience is clean on that.”
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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