Father Jailed for Refusing to Use Daughter’s Preferred Pronouns Wins in Appeals Court

CV NEWS FEED // A Canadian father who was jailed for calling his “trans” daughter by her biological pronouns, as well as for speaking publicly denouncing her “gender transition”, was released from prison earlier this month after a win in a federal appeals court.

The Daily Wire reported that Robert Hoogland’s battle against “gender transitioning” began in 2018, when his 13-year-old daughter decided to identify as male, with her mother’s support. A Canadian children’s hospital informed Hoogland that his daughter was going to be put on testosterone treatments—and also told him that his withholding of consent to the procedure was irrelevant. To back up its argument, the hospital cited British Columbia’s Infants Act, which allows minors of any age to obtain any medical procedure without parental consent as long as the medical provider is sure that the treatment is in the child’s best interest.

Hoogland promptly took legal action, but a court upheld the hospital’s decision and banned Hoogland from referring to his daughter as female, leaving him heartbroken.

“The hardest part is knowing that one day you have a healthy child, and no matter how much you’re fighting to protect that child of yours – who you love, and as a parent, it’s your responsibility to protect your child from these things – that all you can simply do is watch the tragedy unfold, and your hands are tied,” Hoogland said, according to The Daily Wire.

But Hoogland refused to remain silent about what the court’s ruling did to his daughter and spoke about the “gender transition” process in an interview with The Federalist—for which he had to go to court again. According to the court, Hoogland’s interview constituted “family violence” since he continued to refer to his daughter by her biological pronouns, instead of following her wishes.

In the second court case, the judge also ordered Hoogland not to speak publicly about his daughter, and banned Canadian media from publishing stories with his name. According to The Daily Wire, Hoogland said that the publication and speech bans were the court’s way of hiding the truth from the public about the harmful effects of “transition” treatments and surgeries, instead claiming that such treatments are good, empowering, and lifesaving.

Hoogland continued to give interviews to Canadian media, refusing to give up the fight against gender ideology. He was subsequently jailed for over two months, mostly in solitary confinement. The Daily Wire reported that at the same time, another judge was trying to add an extra four to six months to his sentence. 

When Hoogland appealed his case, however, three federal appeals judges ruled that he no longer had to worry about going to jail over his daughter’s gender “transition”. The judges also dropped Hoogland’s $30,000 fine, as well as the other conditions imposed on him by previous courts.

Hoogland told The Daily Wire that the appeals court’s decision is hugely encouraging to parents in similar situations.

“There’s momentum in Canada now, too,” he said. “The tide is turning, and to finally get a big win after just all these horrific losses and the way things were going — I think that’s just critical for morale, at the very least.”Parents in other places are fighting and winning legal battles against gender “transition” as well. A Californian mother recently scored a win against a school district that allegedly tried to “trans” her daughter behind her back. The school allegedly indoctrinated her daughter with “trans” propaganda and encouraged her to keep her “new sexuality” a secret from her parents. The girl was later saved from “transitioning” and, along with her mother, received a settlement of $100,000.