The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) has started a petition calling on the City of Calgary to stay charges against two Calgary teenagers demonstrating against a sex-based rights protest. .“We have watched protests across Canada for years and we know that officers have discretion whether to lay a charge or not,” said the CAHN in a Monday petition. .“This was a decision, and it’s a bad one.” .The petition said a group of protestors held a rally outside Canyon Meadows Aquatic and Fitness Centre in Calgary on February 12. It said the group is opposed to transgender people using washrooms and change rooms matching their gender identity. .A Calgary parent expressed outrage on February 6 over a naked biological male hanging out in the female change room at Canyon Meadows. .READ MORE: Parent furious transgendered men allowed into girls' changing room at Calgary pools."I was waiting with my son outside in the lobby for my daughter, when a parent came out to let me know that a transgender woman was changing in the women's change room while my daughter and some other girls were changing after swimming lessons,” said the parent. .He went into the change room to inspect and found the transgender woman naked finishing up with the washroom..The petition said allies and sexual minority community members showed up to counter-demonstrate. .A Calgary mother said on February 20 Mission7 pastor Derek Reimer called her children who attended the protest “devil f*gs.” .The mother said she was pulled over within half a block by two police cars and a bylaw van after the protest ended. .She said she was pulled over for a burned-out tail light, but the bylaw officer started writing up two tickets. One of the tickets was for excessive noise because of an amplification device used, and the other was under the street harassment bylaw..The petition said the harassment bylaw is meant to protect victims. It should not protect harassers. .The City of Calgary is reviewing the situation to determine if the two teens will be charged. The CAHN asked people to help it “send a message to the City of Calgary to drop the charges.”.If it could not have the city drop the charges, it will run a fundraiser for the family. The petition asked people to email it at info@antihate.ca if people can help pay their tickets. .The mother said the City of Calgary is looking at laying charges against the sex-based rights protestors and was looking for witness statements. The CAHN called this “a proper use of the bylaw.” .If people were present and witnessed harassment or felt harassed, people should email the CAHN. .“This family of upstanders should be celebrated, not punished,” it said.
