Eight Canadian cities have revoked performance permits for Sean Feucht, a Trump-supporting Christian nationalist preacher and musician, who led anti-gay demonstrations outside Disneyland and protested against mask mandates during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the past two weeks, performances by Feucht, have been cancelled in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Moncton, New Brunswick; Quebec City, Quebec; Vaughan, Ontario; and Abbotsford, British Columbia. Local authorities cited safety concerns or code of conduct violations as reasons for cancelling his appearances. The municipal government in Winnipeg, Manitoba, denied Feucht a permit to perform due to “operational challenges”.
Feucht has publicly opposed homosexuality and complained that kindergarten students were being taught “transgenderism” and made to feel “bad because they were born white”.
Feucht has also advocated in interviews for a country where there is “no law outside of the biblical moral law”.
His attempt to tour Canada has prompted a fierce debate over whether local authorities in the country should allow far-right figures to perform – and warnings that efforts to ban such speech could instead enhance his profile.
“[Feucht’s performance] is putting the public at risk, their safety at risk,” said Candace Banks, the vice-president of Kelowna Pride, a non-profit that supports the LGBTQ+ community in Kelowna, British Columbia.
“He spews hate speech. There’s a fine line between freedom of speech and hate speech,” they said.
A church in Montreal was fined $2,500 for allowing Feucht last month to perform despite city authorities’ refusal to grant a permit because of the California musician’s views.
“Freedom of expression is one of our fundamental values, but hateful and discriminatory speech is not accepted in Montreal and, as in other Canadian cities, the show will not be tolerated,” a spokesperson for the Montreal mayor’s office told CBC.
Municipal governments in Kelowna and Edmonton, Alberta, are still mulling over whether to allow Feucht to go ahead with his scheduled tour stops later this month, after an outcry from residents in many cities and LGBTQ+ rights groups.
The city of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan confirmed on 30 July that it had approved Feucht’s permit for a show scheduled for 21 August. City officials told the broadcaster that there were no public safety concerns emerging that would require the event’s cancellation, but they would monitor the situation.
The city’s mayor, Cynthia Block, said that she had received many complaints about Feucht and was in contact with local police. “They are doing their due diligence to make sure that they are following all of the correct legislation to protect freedom of speech, but understanding foundationally that this is a safety issue. It is a physical safety issue, and I am personally worried,” she told CBC.
Banks said Feucht had “crossed the line” and should not be permitted to play in public spaces.
A spokesperson for Feucht said he would not be able to respond to a request for comment, but referred to his public social media posts after his permit to perform in Winnipeg was revoked. “This going to backfire spectacularly,” he wrote.
After the Walt Disney Company opposed Florida’s so-called “don’t say gay” bill in 2022, Feucht led protests outside the company’s California headquarters.
James Turk, the director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, said Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms has clear protections for free speech and that barring Feucht could inadvertently amplify his message.
“The attempt to censor him is actually giving him a platform,” said Turk.
