Posted on 03/29/2019 5:53:49 AM PDT by Petrosius
VANCOUVER, March 28, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) A B.C. human rights tribunal has ruled that a Christian activist discriminated against a man who claims to be "female" by distributing flyers that referred to the man, who was running for political office at the time, as a "biological male."
The court ruled for transgender activist "Morgane" Oger, born Ronan Oger, and against Christian activist Bill Whatcott by declaring its discriminatory not to accept transgender people as the gender they claim to be.
In a 104-page ruling released Wednesday (read full ruling below), the tribunal further declared theres no room for any public debate in the matter, according to the Vancouver Star.
The tribunal also ordered Whatcott to pay Oger $35,000 in compensation for injury to his dignity, feelings and self-respect, and an additional $20,000 to Oger for Whatcotts alleged improper conduct during and before the hearings, it reported.
Whatcott, 52, described the tribunal hearing as a kangaroo show trial and said hes not surprised by the decision.
Jesus Christ is still Lord and he will come again, I put my hope into that, he told LifeSiteNews.
John Carpay, president of the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom, which intervened in the case, decried the ruling as harming democracy.
The Supreme Court of Canada has long held that freedom of expression is the lifeblood of democracy," Carpay said in a press release.
Society is full of people with diverse views and the Tribunals decision undermines the foundational principles of the free society and jeopardizes the health of Canadas democracy, he said.
Oger, who is vice president of the B.C. NDP, launched a discrimination complaint against Whatcott after the Christian activist distributed flyers in Vancouver-False Creek riding in 2017 when Oger was running as MLA for the B.C. NDP.
Whatcotts flyer asserted Oger is a biological male who has renamed himself Morgane Oger after he embraced a transvestite lifestyle, and can be found here.
The flyer also stated that [t]hose who promote falsehoods like the NDP and BCs major media . . . do so to their eternal peril.
Oger, who narrowly lost to a former Vancouver mayor, alleged the flyer was discriminatory and exposed him to hatred and contempt under Section 7 of British Columbias Human Rights Code.
In a December 11 to 14 hearing, the JCCF and the Canadian Association for Free Expression intervened on Whatcotts behalf, while West Coast LEAF and the B.C. Teachers Federation intervened for Oger.
Whatcotts lawyer, Dr. Charles Lugosi, intended to give evidence that Oger was, in fact, a biological male as a defense.
Tribunal judge Devyn Cousineau, however, ruled the truth of the statements in the flyer is not a defense.
Therefore, to the extent that Mr. Whatcott intends to call witnesses to establish the truth of his impugned publications, that evidence is simply not relevant to the legal issue and will not be heard by this Tribunal, she wrote.
Lugosi also argued Whatcotts Charter rights of free speech and religion allowed him to express his views. A summary of Lugosi's legal defense of Whatcott can be found here.
The tribunal, which was composed of lawyers Cousineau, Diana Juricevic, and Norman Trerise, disagreed.
The ruling, penned by Cousineau, declared that even questioning transgenderism is discriminatory.
[T]he proposition that we should continue to debate and deny the existence of trans people is at the root of the prejudice and stereotypes that continue to oppress them, wrote Cousineau.
It rests on the persistent belief, held by people like Mr. Whatcott, that a persons genitals are the essential determinant of their sex and, therefore, gender. The result of this belief is to necessarily cast transgender people as either deceivers or pretenders, she wrote.
Cousineau also censored Whatcotts original flyer in her ruling.
Throughout his testimony, Mr. Whatcott refused to recognize Ms. Oger as a woman, or to abide by the Tribunals frequent orders not to call her a man, she wrote in a footnote.
I will return to this in respect of Ms. Ogers application for costs, but in the meantime, I have replaced his male pronouns with the correct, female, ones.
(It) is really so encouraging ... to have the tribunal say you know you cant argue that you are just commenting on a legitimate public issue because this is not a public issue. There is no debate about whether people are or should be transgender, Ogers lawyer, Susanna Allevato Quail, told the Star.
The December tribunal hearing sometimes appeared to be rancorous, according to an earlier LifeSiteNews report describing the conduct Cousineau ruled as improper.
When my lawyer was cross-examining Mr. Oger about his subjective experiences, Ogers lawyer repeatedly objected to my lawyers line of questioning and the Tribunal upheld all of her objections, Whatcott reported then.
When Cousineau berated Lugosi for having misgendered Oger five times, Whatcott demanded that the tribunal stop bullying his lawyer and shouted, The Emperor has no clothes; even Norman accidentally called Roman what he is: a guy.
In response, Trerise allegedly told Whatcott to shut up, and Juricevic allegedly warned Whatcott that if he had an outburst like that again, he would be removed from his own hearing and ordered to pay costs.
Whatcott told LifeSiteNews hes not sure if he will appeal the decision, nor does he have the money to pay the fine.
He is also facing a Criminal Code hate crime charge for infiltrating Torontos homosexual Pride parade in 2016 disguised as a gay zombie with five others, to distribute pamphlets warning of the spiritual and physical dangers of sodomy. Whatcotts next scheduled court appearance on that charge is a judicial pretrial in Toronto on April 10.
However, Whatcott does hope to see Oger on Saturday in Kamloops where Oger is speaking on the living the transgender lifestyle faithfully at a Lutheran church.
Im going to be there, he told LifeSiteNews. Ive got a thousand flyers to put out.
Good grief....let’s just make it up as we go along!
1984 has arrived in Canada.
Sounds like what they do up there, doesn’t it????
Are you awake yet America?
Just another “lifestyle” choice? “Religion of peace”?
Just how gullible are you America?
WAKE UP!
Sure does!
No First Amendment in Canada
And no Second Amendment, either.
The residue of being an “subject” for too long.
Enjoy your subjugation, “Oh Canada”
We live in a small town in Kentucky and our county has a so-called human Rights commission. Which is total BS and whenever I read anything about them its complete boilerplate liberal crap.
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yes it is, and it is paid for by your tax dollars and peopled with leftists. Very dangerous. It has its own justice system Like the IRS.
The cake baker and the florist and many others were entwined with them
They are the reason people do not speak out in our country because the human rights commissions can sue and lose them their jobs, professions, and in some cases their homes.
yes it is, and it is paid for by your tax dollars and peopled with leftists. Very dangerous. It has its own justice system Like the IRS. Just their presence is a deterrent to free speech.
The cake baker and the florist and many others were entwined with them
They are the reason people do not speak out in our country because the human rights commissions can sue and lose them their jobs, professions, and in some cases their homes.
The US is half an inch behind Canada in suppression of speech.
Here’s another example of that court and their rulings;
Skip to comments.
Court: Parents can’t stop girl, 14, from taking trans hormones(canaDUH)
thefederalist.com ^ | 3/1/2019 | Jeremiah Keenan
Posted on 3/3/2019, 10:16:28 AM by rktman
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada ordered that a 14-year-old girl receive testosterone injections without parental consent. The court also declared that if either of her parents referred to her using female pronouns or addressed her by her birth name, they would be considered guilty of family violence.
As previously reported, Maxine* was encouraged by her school counselor in BCs Delta School District to identify as a boy while in seventh grade. When Maxine was 13 years old, Dr. Brenden Hursh and his colleagues at BC Childrens Hospital decided that Maxine should begin taking testosterone injections in order to develop a more masculine appearance.
I would counter-sue and insist he have a DNA test done, and if he is XY, then the defense is established.
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In other words, in the eyes of this tribunal, if you were charged, you are guilty. We don't care about justice, we just want adherence to the latest obsession of progressive "thought."
I know this is Canada but in the U.S. if someone is called before one of these human rights commissions for one of their show trials, couldn't that person demand a trial by jury under either the 6th or 7th Amendment to the Constitution, depending on whether these actions are deemed a criminal or civil matter? I'd rather face a randomly-selected jury of my peers than this panel of activists with an agenda. I'm sure the jury would more concerned about the truth of the statements than pushing forth an agenda.
If the Party declares two plus two equals five, who are we to question it?
PC idiocy.
And yet your home page says you are from Texas?
That was an article quote from the source listed.
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