Public Spaces Shouldn’t Be a Platform for Hate, Says Advocacy Canada

UPDATE: No decision yet on some Western Canada concerts including West Kelowna. TYEE article here.

Thanks friends from Summerland United Church for the share below. With the support and encouragment of “Christian” churches who should know better, steadily far right ideology is now creeping into Canadian public spaces.

Kelowna, BC – Advocacy Canada is expressing deep concern over the City of West  Kelowna’s decision to permit an event by controversial American figure Sean Feucht, whose public activism is widely regarded as anti-2SLGBTQIA+ and aligned with exclusionary, far-right Christian nationalist movements.

Feucht’s “Let Us Worship” tour has generated alarm across North America for its divisive rhetoric and its targeting of queer and trans communities under the guise of religious expression. His documented efforts to roll back rights for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, oppose gender-affirming care, and suppress reproductive rights are incompatible with Canadian values of equity, inclusion, and human dignity.

“Public spaces belong to everyone,” said Wilbur Turner, President of Advocacy Canada. “Permitting someone with such a harmful agenda to use a city park for what amounts to a platform for discrimination sends the wrong message – especially to queer youth who are already vulnerable.”

The organization is calling on city leaders to reconsider the broader implications of allowing events that advance messages rooted in bigotry and exclusion. At a time when hate crimes against queer and trans people are rising, Advocacy Canada urges the City of West Kelowna to affirm its commitment to protecting all residents, especially those most at risk.

“Sean Feucht has the right to his beliefs,” Turner continued, “but the city also has the responsibility to ensure its public spaces aren’t being used to promote ideologies that threaten the safety and dignity of marginalized groups.”

Advocacy Canada reaffirms its support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community across the Okanagan and calls on local allies to speak out and show solidarity.

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To add your name to the local West Kelowna petition go here. I am advised that other similar concerts have been denied or cancelled the West Kelowna event is still pending.

About Advocacy Canada

Advocacy Canada is committed to defending the rights and dignity of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community through advocacy, education, and community engagement.

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