Thread by @christophelston

Today is the final day of trial for the BC father who’s been sitting in jail for the past month.

He’s guilty of speaking out about his 14-year-old daughter’s medical gender transitioning which he was powerless to stop.

I’m at the courthouse and I’ll be updating live.

To catch up on what’s happening, please read this thread from two days ago.

https://twitter.com/christophelston/status/1382379126800199690

Due to a publication ban, the father can only be referred to in Canada as C.D.

He has pleaded guilty to violating a gag order by speaking out, naming the doctors involved, and publishing documents like this consent form that his daughter signed when she was only 13 years old.

Look at some of these statements and tell me, how is a 13-year-old girl with rapid-onset gender dysphoria able to give informed consent to lifelong testosterone treatment?

“I understand that testosterone will cause my body to become more masculine in appearance, and it will reduce my female hormones.

“This will probably mean that I will not menstruate, and that I will not be fertile for the duration of treatment.”

How long is that treatment for?

Well, it’s forever.

“Since non-trans men make testosterone their whole lives, testosterone therapy for gender dysphoria is generally continued lifelong.”

As @AbigailShrier has pointed out, many young women get prophylactic hysterectomies after about 5 years on testosterone because the risk of cancer is so high.

Prolonged testosterone use also causes abdominal pain, and vaginal and uterine atrophy, requiring hysterectomies.

Can a 13-year-old girl consent to her own sterilization?

The doctor at B.C. Children’s Hospital thought so after meeting with the child for just one hour.

Who knows the child better? This ideologue doctor, or the father?

A few months after signing this consent form, which the daughter and mother had signed, the father received this letter from BC Children’s Hospital. The daughter was now 14 years of age.

“In British Columbia a minor may give an effective consent to health care if his provider, first, is satisfied that he understands the nature, consequences, benefits, and risks of the proposed treatment and, second, concludes that the treatment is in his best interests.”

‘Provider’ means the medical professional who has only spent an hour with this child.

The letter goes on to say “Although the child’s parent may serve the crucial role of friend and advisor with respect to a healthcare decision, the parent cannot veto that decision.”

So parents in BC are just reduced to ‘friends and advisors’ for their child.

There is no minimum age for how young these children can be.

It’s up to the shady doctor who believes children can be born in the wrong body.

To be settled today are at least two issues: the sentencing of C.D. and what to do with the $56K that has been raised by his GoGetFunding page.

The judge called that money “ill-gotten gains.”

Crown had asked for a sentence of 45 days, but on Wednesday the judge called that “woefully inadequate.”

That was before C.D. testified and before Jenn Smith blamed the breach of the court order on “grifters, nut jobs and right wing propaganda contaminating C.D.’s brain.”

I’ve been told not to live tweet but I’m taking notes and I’ll update as soon as I can.

Court session begins. C.D.’s lawyer tells Judge Tammen that rejecting Crown’s recommendation of a 45 day sentence and increasing it will only add to C.D.’s martyr status.

C.D.’s lawyer Carey Linde wants to know how the Toronto Star acquired a copy of the daughter’s Victim Impact Statement.

Judge doesn’t view anything in it as a violation of the publication ban.

Having said that, procedure is such that it is unusual. Judge asks Crown how the Toronto Star came to receive the statement.

Crown simply says it was received in proper fashion and that this issue is not germane to this hearing.

It is Crown’s position that the Victim Impact Statement being in the public sphere is fine with the child.

Judge is going to leave it at that.

Crown Counsel brings up another issue... me. 😯

He says a man named Chris Elston who goes by Billboard Chris was live tweeting a couple of days ago.

Judge clarified it is not permitted by anyone other than accredited media.

Crown looks at his phone and sees that I had tweeted I was told not to live tweet, and that was that.

It’s nice to know I’m being thought of. ❤️

FYI, the court sheriffs in the overflow room where I hang out saw me on my phone during the previous hearing and said I could use it.

Crown had recommended 45 days in jail, to be followed by 18 months probation, in addition to a requirement for C.D. to write to websites in an effort to get them to take down material in breach of the court order.

Judge says C.D. expressed remorse the second time he testified, which was entirely different from his first testimony.

Both times C.D. spoke he accepted full responsibility for his actions.

Judge Tammen says 45 days in prison is inadequate, and would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

Judge Tammen goes through the history of the case and the various breaches.

He mentions the previous Judge Bowden who stated that if C.D. referred to his daughter as a girl that it would constitute family violence.

Judge talks about the interviews given to @ErinBrewerin, @DanDicksPFT, @JVanMaren, and @FPVaughanIII.

Judge states that C.D. stated in an interview that he felt it was important to break the gag order.

Tammen mentions the VPD accessed C.D.’s GoGetFunding page in March 2021 and found it to be in violation of the court order.

Based on that, the judge issued an arrest warrant.

In the subsequent 12 days before the court hearing and arrest date, C.D. did his most egregious violation by giving info to massresistance.org

Those documents remain accessible, including a letter from the doctor at BC Children’s Hospital to C.D., and the consent form that his daughter signed.

I have included redacted copies of these documents near the beginning of this thread.

The versions posted by massresistance.org include the full names of 9 healthcare providers.

During these 12 days, C.D. gave interviews to @DanDicksPFT, @LauraLynnTT, and The Federalist.

C.D. expressed no intention to stop speaking out.

C.D. said he was smart and sent everything to U.S. outlets where it can’t get removed.

Judge says online actions by C.D. helped the fundraiser raise over 30K after the arrest.

Judge says criminal contempt is a common-law offense, and society as a whole is affected by breach of a court order.

Without the ability to enforce court orders, there would not be democracy, but anarchy.

Judge says C.D. ensured he would not be able to purge the internet of the content in breach of the court order.

He states that the daughter’s confidence in the court has been diminished.

Judge Tammen rejects C.D.’s assertion that he had no desire to share information that would harm his daughter.

Unbelievably, the judge states that neither C.D. or his lawyer Carey Linde has ever given a reason why C.D. decided to talk to American outlets.

Tammen says the only mitigating factors in sentencing are lack of a criminal record, and expression of remorse which came too late.

Nevertheless, they do offer some mitigation.

The judge states that 6 - 9 months imprisonment is called for, and that C.D. was not deterred by the prospect of a short sentence.

He intends to impose a sentence at the low end of that range, due to mitigation.

The judge hands down a sentence of 6 months, and a fine of $30,000.

The money is to be donated to Ronald McDonald House.

C.D. has already served 31 days, and they credit those days times 1.5 which counts as 46 days served.

C.D. is to serve 134 more days in prison.

The judge states that @DanDicksPFT may also be in violation and should attempt to come into compliance, but no further action is being taken right now.

Court concludes with Crown saying that massresistance.org should be anonymized in court transcripts etc, so that people don’t continue to visit the site and find the documents.

That is left for another day.