Chastity speaker and author Jason Evert has cancelled his Irish tour dates due to “illness”, as announced in a statement by Our Lady Queen of Peace Church. 

Evert had planned to speak with Irish students in the Dublin and Waterford area last week. Following the release of his tour dates, there was widespread backlash against the visit, resulting in the talks being cancelled. 

Previously, Evert has described homosexuality as “disordered” and spoken out against the use of contraception in his book Pure Manhood: How to become the man God wants you to be. In 2017, he voiced his opposition to same-sex marriage as part of Ascension’s program YOU: Life, Love, and the Theology of the Body video series.

A mother described Evert’s remarks on homosexuality as “horrifying” and “absolutely awful” in an interview with the Journal.ie. He had previously been expected to speak at her son’s school. She said, “Each to their own, it just doesn’t sit well with my family.”

Following the announcement of Evert’s tour, his planned lectures in Blackrock College, Rosemont secondary school, University College Dublin, and Tower Hotel in Waterford City were swiftly cancelled. 

Evert was scheduled as the keynote speaker for the Incite 2020 retreat, however UCD has cancelled his appearance following students voicing their concerns. The UCD LGBT Society stated his lectures were “putting the safety of UCD’s LGBTQ+ community at risk” as they could have “lasting and damaging effects on the mental wellbeing” of students.

Speaking to the Journal.ie, the CEO of SpunOut, Ian Power, stated, “For anybody, but particularly for somebody who is struggling with their identity, to be told that they are in some way disordered or wrong is extremely harmful to hear. This could have really serious consequences for the mental health of young people coming to terms with their sexuality – as you struggle with that, you’re so much more vulnerable to the things other people say, particularly for younger people.”

After the numerous complaints towards his visit, the chastity speaker has fallen ill and cancelled all tour dates. Our Lady Queen of Peace Church wrote on their website, “It is with regret we announce that, due to ILLNESS, Jason Evert is unable to travel to Ireland. As a consequence all appearances, including ours, are now cancelled. We were all looking forward to hearing him speak. Perhaps we’ll get a chance in the future.”

The entire list of planned Irish events has been removed from the Chastity Project website, a group founded by the public speaker and his wife, Crystalina Evert.