Former Sask. business owner accused of transphobia after youth track meet confrontation

British Columbia RCMP are investigating after a former Prince Albert business owner allegedly harassed a nine-year-old girl at a track meet in Kelowna on Thursday.

Josef Tesar, who moved to Prince Albert from Czechoslovakia in 1980, and later owned a hotel and several bars in the city, is being accused of transphobia by the girl's parents and online, following the confrontation on June 8.

The girl was competing in discus and shot put at the event when her mother says an older man stepped out of the crowd and accused the pixie-haired girl of being a boy.

"A gentleman stepped out of the crowd, who I understand is a grandfather of a person who was competing, and he said ‘Hey! This is a girls’ event, why are boys throwing?'" mother Heidi Starr told CTV News on Tuesday, adding she had never seen him before.

Realizing his confusion, Starr tried to explain that her daughter — one of two he believed were boys — was a girl, but she says he dismissed her and insisted they were both either boys or transgender.

"At this time, his wife started yelling that my ex-wife and I — parents of my daughter — and other parents of trans kids were genital mutilators and groomers, and the man himself began demanding to see a certificate proving my daughter was born a girl," Starr said.

In a phone interview with CTV News Vancouver, Tesar denies berating Starr and her daughter, although he says he asked an official privately whether the event was co-ed.

Based on his 17-year experience of coaching kids, he didn’t think she was a girl, he says.

"I saw her and in my mind and my gut feeling, I just thought 'It’s a boy,'" Tesar said.

Starr says the exchange shook her daughter "to the core."

Kelowna RCMP said that although it could not share many details due to privacy concerns, it had received a number of complaints and it had opened an investigation into the incident.

"We want to encourage you to continue to be a strong voice and show your allyship, support, public positions and commitment to diversity and inclusion," the RCMP said in a statement to CTV News.

"It is important to our community to speak out against discriminatory behaviours, and research shows that social support is an important protective factor for those experiencing marginalization, racism or discrimination."

Tesar was a championship wrestler in his youth who went on to become a prominent figure and coach in the Greco-Roman wrestling scene in Saskatchewan, according to the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame.

He was also a prominent figure in the Prince Albert business community, as owner of the Ramada Hotel and several bars.

-With files from Becca Clarkson and Angela Jung