Fri Dec 10, 2021 – 2:01 pm EST
TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) — A pro-family Christian advocate charged with a “hate crime” for distributing anti-LGBT flyers at a Toronto homosexual pride parade has been found not guilty.
Bill Whatcott was charged under the “Wilful Promotion of Hatred” statute in the Canadian Criminal Code for distributing graphic anti-LGBT flyers at Toronto’s 2016 Gay Pride Parade, and if he had been convicted, faced up to two years in prison.
While not expressing sympathy for the views shared in Whatcott’s flyer, which is currently under a publication ban from the court and contained graphic images of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as Bible verses and statistics regarding homosexual behavior, Justice Robert Goldstein of the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto ruled that there was a “reasonable doubt” that Whatcott’s flyer and his actions fit the legal definition for the “Wilful Promotion of Hatred.”
Before the trial, Whatcott had told LifeSiteNews that he was surprised he was even facing a criminal trial for his actions. “I don’t even think [my flyer] raises to the human rights code level [a significantly less serious offence than a criminal charge], which needs to be ‘vilification and calumny,’” he said.
“I don’t see that in the flyer, so I don’t see how it can rise to an indictable [criminal] offence. It’s baffling,” he added.
According to Goldstein, while Whatcott’s flyer condemning homosexual behavior as “sinful” and contrary to “natural law” is
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