Legendary British comedian John Cleese says he cannot risk visiting British Columbia after former public school trustee Barry Neufeld was ordered to pay out $750,000 to a teacher’s union by the BC Human Rights Tribunal for arguing that there are only two genders.
The tribunal ruled that 24 of Neufeld’s publications were “discrimination” and “hate speech,” and made it clear that his rejection of gender ideology was key to their decision.
“If a person elects not to ‘believe’ that gender identity is separate from sex assigned at birth, then they do not ‘believe’ in transpeople. This is a form of existential denial,” the tribunal stated. “A person does not need to believe in Christianity to accept that another person is Christian. However, to accept that a person is transgender, one must accept that their gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth.”
Cleese, who is 86, is best known for Monty Python and creating the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. He will now avoid a province that he has previously praised to avoid the crackdown on gender ideology.
“What a pity!” he wrote on X on February 21 in a repost of the news of the ruling against Neufeld. “I’m arranging a theatrical tour of Canada this fall, and now I won’t be able to risk doing any shows in British Columbia. I was really looking forward to coming.”
What a pity !
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) February 21, 2026
I'm arranging a theatrical tour of Canada this Fall, and now I won't be able to risk doing any shows in British Columbia
I was really looking forward to coming
John Cleese https://t.co/5ugs0ta12s
Cleese has long been a staunch defender of freedom of speech, and this has put him at odds with trans activists.
“You can disagree with someone without hating them,” he stated earlier this month. “That’s the basis of liberal democracy. Using the suffix ‘-phobic’ suggests fear and disgust. I have been labelled trans-phobic by illiterates. I asked them if the fact they disagreed with me means they are Cleese-phobic. I didn’t get a reply.”
In 2020, Cleese signed a letter in support of JK Rowling, a prominent critic of gender ideology. When he faced accusations of “transphobia,” he replied: “I’m afraid I’m not that interested in trans folks.” In response to another angry criticism, Cleese got snarky: “Deep down, I want to be a Cambodian police woman. Is that allowed, or am I being unrealistic?”
There is precedent for the prosecution of comedians in British Columbia. In 2011, the BC Human Rights Tribunal ordered comedian Guy Earle to pay $15,000 to a member of his audience for the alleged “lasting physical and psychological effect” of his “homophobic” jokes during his set. Earle’s petition for review was dismissed by the BC Supreme Court.