The demonstration at the high school was led by Josh Alexander, an Ontario teen who previously protested the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board’s decision to allow transgender teens to use bathrooms according to their gender identity.
It was also organized by True Dominion Canada, an ultra-conservative group led by Nathaniel Pawlowski, son of Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski. The poster for the protest featured transphobic and homophobic statements, claiming “radical gender ideology” is “sexualizing children.” A video on Alexander’s social media from May 17 shows him being escorted away from the protest police custody.
Hate-motivated crimes are recognizable crimes, like assault, theft or vandalisms, where the offender’s actions were demonstrably motivated by hate, bias or prejudice towards the victim’s personal characteristics, characteristics like race, ethnicity, country of origin, sexuality, gender, gender expression or religion.Prevention is key to addressing increasing hate crime trend in Alberta: OPV study