Pastor Derek Reimer Spends Easter in Jail After Arrest Over Drag Queen Events

A police vehicle is shown at the Calgary Police Service headquarters on April 9, 2020. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

After repeatedly protesting against drag queen storytime events in Alberta, Canadian pastor Derek Reimer was arrested again and spent his Easter weekend in jail.

According to Calgary Police, Reimer was arrested last Tuesday on outstanding warrants while protesting near a drag storytime event taking place in the city. Reimer faces five counts of breaching a release order, two counts of causing a disturbance, and one count of criminal harassment.

Calgary Police Service told The Epoch Times that the eight new charges involve incidents that took place between March 25 and April 2, and the incidents are being investigated as hate-motivated.

Reimer, the pastor of the street church ministry Mission 7, was first arrested by police following a Feb. 25 incident at the Seton Library in Calgary. Reimer was protesting a “Reading with Royalty” event at the library—which involved drag queens reading to children—before several men physically removed him.

Reimer was initially charged with mischief and causing a disturbance in connection with the incident, as he is accused of entering the library classroom and uttering transphobic and homophobic comments.

Then on March 15, Reimer was arrested in a parking lot located across the street from Signal Hill Library in Calgary, which was also hosting a drag queen storytime event. Reimer was charged with breaching a release order that prohibited him from communicating with self-identified LGBTQ2+ people, or being within 200 meters of events involving the LGBTQ2+ community.

When Reimer was released from custody again on March 22, he was given conditions to keep at least 300 metres away from LGBTQ2+ events.

Prior to his second arrest, Reimer told True North that he was protesting the events because he believes children should not be presented with belief systems involving sexuality. “If adults want to engage in the adult entertainment of drag, that’s their decision. They’re consenting adults. Although when you involve a little child, now that’s the innocent,” he said.

While Reimer said the Feb. 25 drag queen story hour he attended wasn’t “nearly as vile” as some he had seen online, he said, “It’s going in that direction.”

Reimer’s most recent arrest came after he allegedly caused a disturbance and engaged in criminal harassment during a Reading with Royalty event at the Country Hills Library in Calgary. According to police, Reimer showed up at the event with a microphone and shouted hate speech at event participants.

When the pastor reportedly entered the library and requested to speak with a manager, he also allegedly made derogatory comments, engaged in hate speech, and harassed the manager and staff, which left them feeling concerned for their safety.

Following Reimer’s first arrest, Calgary City Council passed the Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw, which prohibits protests within 100 metres of a recreation facility or library entrance.

In Ontario, New Democrat MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam recently introduced a private member’s bill that would allow the attorney general to temporarily designate addresses as community safety zones, making anti-LGBTQ2+ harassment, intimidation, and hate speech within 100 metres subject to a $25,000 fine. The Progressive Conservative Party holds a majority government in Ontario. It hasn’t indicated if it supports the legislation.