B.C. Supreme Court orders for weekly anti-LGBTQ2S+ protests on North Vancouver highway overpass to stop

The B.C. Supreme Court has issued an injunction ordering for a group of anti-LGBTQ2S+ protesters that has been gathering weekly on a highway overpass in North Vancouver to cease and desist.

The group responsible for hanging anti-LGBTQ2S+ posters off a highway overpass in North Vancouver for months has been banned from the area, according to an order by the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

On May 11, the provincial court issued an injunction ordering the group to cease and desist, after the same request by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure was ignored.

About 20 people have participated in the weekly protests since February, according to District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little. The gatherings have involved signage being displayed from the overpass, with the topics being protested ranging from COVID-19 mask mandates to anti-transgender messages.

Thursday’s court order has been laminated and attached to the barriers of the Highway 1 Mountain Highway overpass and lists the BC Transportation Financing Authority and the province as the plaintiffs, while Jane and John Doe and other unknown persons are named as the defendants.

The order applies to the area within 250 metres of the overpass in either direction along the Trans-Canada Highway, according to the court document.

It specifies that no person with knowledge of the order is allowed to hang or display anything from the overpass, congregate in the area, or “intentionally obstruct, impede, disrupt, interfere with, or distract vehicle or pedestrian traffic.”

The latest notice follows one posted by the province on April 27, in which the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure warned “anyone participating in these gatherings must immediately cease their occupation and must remove all personal property from the lands.”

As recently as May 4, one of the participants in the protests shared a video on Instagram, showing a crowd of more than a dozen people on the overpass, waving Canadian flags and holding signs—one of which clearly reads “Sexualizing children is child abuse."

“What an amazing and uplifting day,” the caption reads, followed by 21 hashtags, including one referring to the Nuremberg trials.

In an email to CTV News Vancouver on Friday, the ministry said safety is its number one priority.

“The hanging of banners from any highway overpass is not allowed under the Transportation Act,” reads the email. “The ministry expects this order to be respected. Enforcement is the responsibility of the police."

Under the order, policing agencies---including the RCMP—may arrest and remove “any person who has knowledge” of the injunction and who is believed to be disobeying any provision of it.

Speaking to CTV News last month, Little called the protests ignorant.

“At worst, what I’d be worried about is that it may cause undue attention for kids who are dealing with gender identity issues. We certainly don’t want to add to their burden of issues they are going through socially,” he said.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Isabella Zavarise.