Bill Whatcott is one of those people who ultimately helps change the world for the better. Many people talk about fighting back against the radical agendas degrading society – but back off when the government (or the Left) threatens them. Bill Whatcott takes his Christian faith seriously and refuses to back down!

The details of this outrageous situation are documented by MassResistance here.

The “Crime” of Quoting the Bible

Bill Whatcott (center) with well-known Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski and Amy Contrada of MassResistance on the day he turned himself in to the Toronto police. (Amy was the lone American reporter to cover Bill’s arrest.)

In 2016, Bill and his friends registered to march in the Toronto Gay Pride Parade as members of the “Gay Zombies Cannabis Consumers Association.” Marching in the parade wearing masks and green body suits, they passed out flyers to the crowds of onlookers. The flyers warned of the horrible medical consequences of homosexual behavior and contained Bible verses. (Publication of the flyer has been banned in Canada by the courts. MassResistance has made it available.)

The “gay pride” parade itself was incredibly disgusting and revolting. Among other things, there were contingents of completely naked men marching in front of and behind Bill’s group, in full view of children and everyone else. (This was a clear violation of Toronto’s nudity laws, but that was ignored by the police and authorities.) The parade also included bigoted anti-Catholic and anti-Christian imagery. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had no problem with any of this and marched in the parade.

A month after the parade, a group of prominent Canadian homosexual activists filed an absurd $104 million civil lawsuit against Bill – and anyone who financially supported him. They were seeking damages for “defamation” and “hate speech” against the parade participants and the Toronto LGBT community. To make their point, they announced the lawsuit in the press room of the Canadian National Parliament in Ottawa.

But the lawsuit was dropped the by plaintiffs in 2018 when they learned Whatcott had neither personal funds nor wealthy donors.

Bill’s Arrest for “Hate Speech”

There was clearly an obsession that Bill must be severely punished.

In 2018 (two years after the parade incident), when it was clear the multi-million-dollar lawsuit was failing, the Ontario government stepped in. The Ontario Attorney General formally charged Bill with “willful promotion of hatred.” Because Bill was living in Alberta, they put out an over-the-top “nationwide warrant” for his arrest (a procedure usually reserved for dangerous criminals and fugitives).

When Bill heard about it, he simply turned himself in at the Calgary police station. At the station, a group of Bill’s supporters, including noted Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski, gathered to show support.

Around the time of his trial (2021), overwhelming numbers of actual crimes were simply being dismissed (due to Covid confusion), including approximately 80% of the drug offenses in Ontario and 43% of the DWI offenses, as well as assaults, theft, and others. But the government insisted on spending upwards of a million dollars prosecuting Bill Whatcott for passing out a flyer.

The Trial – and the Verdict

Attorney John Rosen was considered the best criminal defense lawyer in Canada. In an incredible stroke of luck, he agreed to take Bill’s case. Rosen was also able to get public funding for his fee, since Bill had no money.

The trial began on Oct. 4, 2021. During the 8-day trial the government threw everything they had at Bill. They even brought in a prominent medical expert to “debunk” the facts on his flyer. But Attorney Rosen was absolutely brilliant in his defense. He even proved how the medical expert was wrong in her assessment! And he brought in a university theologian who testified that Bill’s flier reflected Christian belief.

On Dec. 10, 2021, the judge announced his verdict: Not Guilty! He wrote that the flyer was “obnoxious” and “offensive,” but did not legally constitute “hate speech.” He added the obvious: that if Bill had truly intended to promote “hatred toward gays,” he would not have picked a gay pride event to do so!

Even with Canada’s absurd “hate speech” laws (and lacking our First Amendment), the Crown could not make a convincing argument against John Rosen’s rock-solid defense.

One would have thought that all this nonsense over a flyer that was handed out in 2016 would finally be over. But no.

The Crown Successfully Appeals to Have a Second Trial

In the U.S., “double jeopardy” is unconstitutional. But in Canada, the government can appeal a “not guilty” verdict and force a second criminal trial. Even so, everyone was shocked when two weeks after Bill’s acquittal the government filed a “notice of appeal.”

Several months later, in October 2022, the Crown submitted a formal 45-page appeal describing its reasons why the judge “erred” in his verdict. On May 16, 2023, Attorney Rosen submitted a 37-page rebuttal to the appeal.

One of the reasons given for the appeal was that the Judge declined to allow “expert testimony” from a homosexual activist college professor on the subject of “tropes of anti-gay discrimination” allegedly contained in Bill’s flyer. (These are simply the professor’s opinions and not grounded in Canadian law. This professor is also a self-declared authority on “expert kink” and “queering social networks.”)

On August 11, 2023, the three-judge Appellate Court (not surprisingly, all leftists) released a 34-page ruling unanimously accepting the appeal and ordering a new trial for Bill!

Attorney Rosen then filed a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. But on February 15, 2024, the Supreme Court announced (also not surprisingly) that it declined to take the case. So Bill must go through a second criminal trial.

The Current Situation

It’s looking very tough for Bill, but he’s standing as strong as he can.

He has been forced to quit his job in Alberta and move to Toronto to begin preparing for his new trial, which will likely commence in June or July. He hopes to find a place to live in Toronto with friends.

Attorney John Rosen has retired. His law firm may or may not represent Bill this time, since there is no public funding for him at this point. The Ontario Attorney General’s office has virtually unlimited funds and intends to do whatever it can to send Bill to prison. All this over a flyer that was passed out eight years ago.

Final Thoughts

This whole bizarre situation is very serious. Bill’s persecution is intended as a warning to all Canadians to keep silent on LGBTQ issues. It is raw government censorship.

A society under siege must have people like Bill Whatcott willing to fearlessly stand up for free speech and push back on the government’s stranglehold on its citizens.

But people like Bill also must not be left to dangle in the wind. They need strong support from the national pro-family community. Sadly, that is not happening in Canada. Not a single major Canadian pro-family group is coming to Bill’s aid and confronting the Ottawa Attorney General (and other officials). They are apparently “embarrassed” that Bill is taking on the LGBT issue so directly. And only one major Canadian conservative news organization, LifeSiteNews, has even written about Bill’s appeal and double-jeopardy second trial.

But MassResistance is behind Bill 100%! We will keep you informed and do our best to keep up the pressure.

Copyright 2023 MassResistance. Republished with permission.