Legislation proposed in Canada by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party would seek to ban criticism of transgender people or the “gender fluid” ideology, with violators facing up to two years in jail when found guilty.
The bill would redefine “hate speech” under the Canadian Criminal Code as well as the Canada Human Rights act, to include any speech that “promotes hatred towards a gender identity or expression.”
In a statement issued to commemorate the ‘International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia,’ Trudeau said “As a society, we have taken many important steps toward recognising and protecting the legal rights for the LGBTQ2 community – from enshrining equality rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the passage of the Civil Marriage Act.”
“There remains much to be done, though. Far too many people still face harassment, discrimination, and violence for being who they are. This is unacceptable.”
“To do its part, the Government of Canada today will introduce legislation that will help ensure transgender and other gender-diverse people can live according to their gender identity, free from discrimination, and protected from hate propaganda and hate crimes,” it continued.
The bill, proposed last week, states that “This enactment amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.”
It seeks to “extend the protection against hate propaganda set out in that Act to any section of the public that is distinguished by gender identity or expression and to clearly set out that evidence that an offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on gender identity.”
Roughly speaking, the transgender ideology claims people’s feelings about their maleness or femaleness, also known as gender, should be endorsed by the state. For example, if a women says she feels like a man, she should be treated as a man by the law and by society and by other individuals, according to this viewpoint.
This idea of fluid gender is in contrast to science-backed view that men and women are born into unchangeably male or female bodies, and that society should help boys and girls, men and women, get the best from their bodies by allowing them sexual privacy and sex-specific facilities and sport leagues. This view also argues that people should create civic rules to help cooperation between the two complementary but different, equal and unchangeable sexes. The most important cooperation, for example, is civic support for marriage and childrearing.
Pro-transgender activists oppose laws and civic culture that promote the existence of the two distinct sexes, which they criticize as “the gender binary.”
Canadian law currently prohibits anti-gay “hate propaganda,” however, proposed legislation promoting transgender rights by New Democratic Party was rejected last year.
Prime Minister Trudeau has previously described himself as a feminist, and has been quoted as saying “I’ll keep calling myself one until there’s no reaction.” He was recently criticised after he allegedly hit a fellow MP in parliament after a heated exchange.
You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at ben@yiannopoulos.net
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