A Canadian who allegedly yelled at a nine-year-old girl and asked if she was transgender has been banned from attending elementary school athletics competitions, after an incident campaigners say reflects a wider rise in anti-trans hate across the country.
Kari Starr told the Guardian her nine-year-old daughter was preparing for a shot put competition in the city of Kelowna in British Columbia when a man tried to stop the competition, alleging Starr’s daughter was either a boy, or transgender.
Starr said the incident left her daughter, who is not transgender, “hysterically crying” and unable to compete in the shot put final.
Starr’s former partner, Heidi, described the incident to CTV News: “His wife started screaming that my ex-wife and I – my daughter’s parents – and other parents of trans kids were trans kids. genital mutilators and groomers, and the man himself began to demand to see a certificate proving that my daughter was born a girl.
Josef Tesar and his wife Krista, who attended the event to see their granddaughter compete, were asked to leave by other parents. In a statement to local media, Tesar denied ever confronting the nine-year-old.
“As I was walking away from the official, a woman said ‘I am his mother’ and [she was] screaming, insulting me and offering if I want to see [the girl] naked, or if I want to see his genitals,” he said. “I said ‘No, the certificate is OK.’ That’s all I said I never pointed to another girl and said she was obviously trans.
The incident happened the day before the girl’s 10th birthday.
“Luckily the day after all of this she had her birthday party with her football team and then another party with her mom, so she was pretty distracted,” Starr said. “But at the same time, it really hit her hard.”
British Columbia Premier David Eby condemned the incident, saying “hate is neither acceptable nor welcome” in the province. “Let’s continue to speak out against transphobia when we see it. Hate hurts everyone. And let’s support this girl and all who are targeted just for being themselves,” he wrote on Twitter.
On Wednesday, the leader of the federal NDP party, Jagmeet Singh, tweeted“This is where the anti-trans hate is going to take us. A 9-year-old was verbally abused, humiliated and left in tears by an adult.
Starr said school officials responded immediately and showed “strong” support for the family.
The school district says it is taking steps to formally ban the man and woman from school property and future events.
Superintendent of Schools and CEO Kevin Kaardal said in a statement, “We expect adults who are invited to celebrate student achievement to govern their behavior and conduct themselves with civility and respect.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they were “actively investigating” the event following a flurry of public complaints, but could not provide detailed comment due to the child’s age and the provisions of the Privacy Act. “We also share everyone’s serious concerns about discriminatory behavior,” police said in a statement.
After a series of protests across North America centering on drag events, pride flags and library books, the brazen way an adult allegedly confronted a child reflects a troubling shift in public attitudes, said Susan Gapka, a Toronto-based community. organizer and activist for transgender rights.
“It wasn’t about standing up for children,” she said. “It was about attacking the children under the pretext of defending them. And whether the child was trans or not, it was about an appearance, that he was “something”. It’s alarmist. It’s upsetting. And if it bothers me, imagine how the child feels.
Earlier this year, Ohio lawmakers passed a state “genital check” law that would require students to bring a doctor’s note to verify their gender in order to participate in school sports. Months later, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban transgender women from competing on women’s sports teams at schools and universities that receive public funding, reflecting the broader culture wars of the country.
Such policies have yet to appear in Canada, but the province of New Brunswick recently announced that teachers would no longer need to use the preferred pronouns or names of transgender or non-binary students under the age of 16.
The change led to a caucus revolt within the Tory government, with dissenters suggesting the move was unnecessary. A former cabinet minister told The Globe and Mail that the government had “dropped a bomb where none needed to be dropped”. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said those advocating the policy were “far-right political actors” inflicting “cruelty and isolation” on vulnerable people.
In early June, a candidate for the Conservative Party of British Columbia asked for a ban on “men participating in women’s and women’s competitive sports”, adding that the issue should be at the forefront among voters.
“Sport and recreation should be accessible to everyone, regardless of your sex or gender,” Gapka said. “We need to love each other better and stick together. And I really want to keep that message of hope alive.