'This is Canada and this is not criminal, and we cannot allow ourselves to be bullied into silence by a perverted agenda,' Mission 7 Ministries pastor Derek Reimer told LifeSiteNews of his appeal.
CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) –– A Canadian pastor is appealing the one-year house arrest sentence he received for protesting a “drag queen story hour” event marketed to children at a public library in 2023, saying he will not be “bullied into silence by a perverted agenda."
On January 16, lawyer for Mission 7 Ministries pastor Derek Reimer, Andrew MacKenzie, filed an appeal to a sentence handed to Reimer right before Christmas, which saw him placed under one year of house arrest and two years of probation for protesting a "drag queen story hour" event targeting kids at Calgary's Saddletown Library in the spring of 2023. Government lawyers had been seeking to sentence Reimer to jail time for his protest against the LGBT agenda.
“This is Canada and this is not criminal, and we cannot allow ourselves to be bullied into silence by a perverted agenda,” Reimer told LifeSiteNews, adding that he is “confident” and “looking forward” to his being presented before three judges “simultaneously.”
“I'm feeling confident with the higher level of accountability now to uphold the law and not being as easily derailed by a political bias like we saw with Justice [Karen] Molle,” he said. “I maintain my innocence in opposing drag queen story hour to a library manager.”
Reimer told LifeSiteNews at the time of his house arrest sentencing that his trust in the Lord was keeping him strong despite the conditions placed upon him.
Reimer also informed LifeSiteNews that he is only allowed to leave his house on the approval of his probation officer, but noted that when it comes to preaching, “God comes first.”
This is not the first time Reimer has had to battle the courts as a result of his protests against the LGBT agenda.
In a separate case involving another "drag queen story time" protest that took place in February 2023 at Calgary's Seton Public Library, the outcome was more favorable to Remier, with Judge Allan Fradsham finding the pastor not guilty in September of 2024.
However, in October, Reimer was visited by Calgary Police at his home after he was served a notice of appeal in that case by prosecutors.
Around the time of many of Reimer's arrests, the Calgary City Council passed the so-called “Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw” that disallowed “specified protests” both inside and outside all city-owned and affiliated public buildings, including libraries.
