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"I’m not for profiling people on the color of their skin, or on their religion, but I would take into account where they’ve been traveling and perhaps, you might have to indirectly take into account whether or not they’ve been going to radical political speeches by religious leaders. It wouldn’t be that they are Islamic. But if someone is attending speeches from someone who is promoting the violent overthrow of our government, that’s really an offense that we should be going after — they should be deported or put in prison." - Supposedly libertarian Sen. Rand Paul, who presumably includes revolution-minded teabaggers among those who should be imprisoned.
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a comedian to pay $15,000 in compensation for anti-gay insults he directed towards a lesbian couple during a 2007 show at a Vancouver comedy club.
Stand-up comedian Guy Earl was ordered to pay the money to Lorna Pardy, 32, while the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal also ordered the Vancouver restaurant owner, Salam Ishmail, to pay her $7,500. Pardy said Earle directed homophobic and sexist insults at her when she was a patron, and he was the master of ceremonies at an open mic comedy show at the restaurant in 2007. Earle said he will appeal the ruling and that all he did was insult audience members who insulted him first. He also denied that he said some of the things he has been accused of, said Pardy threw a drink in his face and argued that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear the case.The comedian, who has since apologized to the patrons, intends to appeal the decision, claiming his act is protected under freedom of speech laws. News of the judgment has rocketed around anti-gay and Christianist sites, with American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer declaring on Twitter: "Canadian comic pays fine of $15,000 for making fun of lesbians. But if he makes fun of Christians, gets a paycheck."
Canadian televangelist Pastor Charles McVety is crying censorship after a Christian network canceled his show for "disparaging remarks" he made about gay people. A government broadcasting agency had warned the network that McVety was violating their code of ethical standards.
The tension between the reverend and the Christian broadcaster began in December, when the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, an industry watchdog, said CTS violated national broadcasting codes when McVety made "disparaging" on-air remarks about homosexuals. A station spokeswoman, meanwhile, denied the cancellation of Word TV was a consequence of bowing to political pressure. Rather, it was based on the show's "lack of compliance with the CTS code of ethics," Carolyn Innis said. In December's ruling, the council said McVety's description of Toronto's gay pride parade as a "sex parade," as well as his characterization of gay events as "malevolent, insidious and conspiratorial," were in breach of the standards. McVety said he was also scorned for saying the new Ontario sexual education curriculum could turn some school kids into homosexuals.The Christian network says it repeatedly asked McVety to comply with requests to tone down his rhetoric, but he refused. It will be interesting to see how this plays with the American anti-gay right, who are always pointing to Canada as harbingers of the chilling of free speech here.
Two British men have been charged with violating a new law against inciting anti-gay hatred.
Razwan Javed, 30, and Kabir Ahmed, 27, were accused of handing out leaflets called ‘The Death Penalty?’ outside a Derby mosque. It reportedly said that gay people should be executed and the pair are also accused of pushing it through letterboxes. The pair were reportedly arrested after a tip-off from a member of the public. If convicted at a crown court, they could face up to seven years in prison or an unlimited fine. They will appear before magistrates today. This is the first time anyone has been prosecuted for inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, the Crown Prosecution Service said.The new law matched similar legislation against inciting racial and religious hatred.
In 2005 former male prostitute and Christian "ex-gay" activist Bill Whatcott, the Canadian version of James Hartline, was found to have violated Saskatchewan's hate speech law after he stuffed residential mailboxes with pamphlets describing gay men as "filthy pedophiles" and "sodomites." Last year Whatcott successfully appealed his conviction. Yesterday Canada's Supreme Court agreed to hear Whatcott's challenge to the very basis of the hate speech law, which he says violates the Canadian constitution.
Whatcott's lawyer, Tom Schuck, says what has been the traditional Christian message on appropriate sexual conduct has morphed into being characterized as hate speech. Human rights commissions should remain neutral on such moral issues, he suggests. "The problem that I have and many others in the Christian community (have), is that this law is being used to charge Christians — Christians who have a different view as to what is right and wrong on sexual behaviour and in particular same-sex sexual behaviour," Schuck said Friday in a phone interview from his office in Weyburn, Sask. "The argument is that our Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, gives all Canadians the freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion. And the utilization of human rights commissions to stop someone from saying that same-sex sexual activity is wrong infringes on all three of those charter rights."After his 2005 conviction, Whatcott became a folk hero among American anti-gay activists and Christianists, who have long pointed to Canada's stringent hate speech laws as a harbinger of a coming chilling of free speech in the United States. However few have noted last year's overturn of his conviction and most continue cite the 2005 incident in their materials.
VIDEO: From the documentary, The Freedom Of Whatcott.
