LGBT News Canada moves to ban discrimination against transgender people

Canada is amazing

 

Woohoo! Way to go, Canada

 

I love Canada more and more each day, it really feels like they're always a step or two ahead of the world. :eusa_clap

See US? that's how you do "free" right there.

 

Nope because that is also banning freedom of speech wich is a constitutional rifght

 

Canada is pretty good when it comes to it!

 

This is an overstep of government power, honestly. If hate speech is illegal, you don't have free speech. I also take issue with the concept of hate crimes. Plus it's none of the government's business what individuals do as long as no one's constitutional rights are being violated (which are a mess in Canada). This isn't helping trans people, what's really hurting them is making transgenderism politicized in the first place. If you took the government out of it either way, this bathroom mess wouldn't be happening right now. I'm not looking forward to seeing the push back from this.

 

your first ammendment has limits, check SCOTUS.

---------- Post added 18th May 2016 at 10:35 AM ----------

no offense but i heard the same arguements back in the early 2000's when marriage equality was proposed and passed. it's been 10+ years and Canada has neither imploded nor torn in half over this issue and it wont RE Trans rights. we've had anti hate speach here all my life very seldom is it charged, and there is a high bar for it, same with hate crimes.

 

Our lives are already politicized so we might as well take advantage of government protections when we can. You could just as easily make the same argument about allowing women to vote or banning racial segregation, you know?

 

God bless Canada!! <3 I knew there was a reason I love that country. They actually have brains!! lol

 

Panda said what I would've said. Basically, enjoy the protections while they're there - similar types of laws have come, no social upheaval has happened.

Anyway, go Canada! (*hug*)

 

RE: looking for me

This is different from marriage equality. Legalizing that gives people more freedom; restricting speech and forcing businesses to do anything (bad things like discriminating apply the same) takes away freedom. It might not be causing problems in Canada, but people pushing for more transgender protection under the law is a large part of the reason why Americans are trying to pass transphobic laws--if you take the law out of it, it can't hurt you.

Also, there's no excuse for restricting free speech. It doesn't matter how high the bar is, there shouldn't be one at all. Some of the most important freedoms we have to day would have been absurd and orthodox some time ago, and being against LGBT is just as much an opinion as supportive. Banning dissent is anti-intellectual and anti-progress, because it's important to hear a different side. Banning certain speech can cause a slippery slope, and frankly, bigots are so ridiculous, let their ideas be discussed so they can show how ridiculous they are.

---------- Post added 19th May 2016 at 05:01 AM ----------

Sometimes the lesser of two evils is necessary, but here this isn't the case. The clear solution is to stop politicizing it. We don't have to compromise other people's freedom to make progress, and making it political will only increase hostility towards trans people. Also segregation and women not being able to vote is taking away their freedom, banning hate speech is taking away another groups freedom. Everyone should be able to have a say in how they want their country, and the state shouldn't be sponsoring hate, but nobody is entitled to feel comfortable with the way people talk about them, or to be served by a certain business, or to be protected by the law differently for being a minority.

 

You know what, yeah. We should be entitled to be treated equally under the banner of the law.

A business who denies someone service because of the color of their skin, or whether they're trans or not, or who they marry is just a step away from banning people from using the bathrooms they're more comfortable with, not allowing people to marry their partner.

You can't yell "fire" in a theater. Why the hell should you have the 'privilege' to call someone a "dirty tr*nny" and incite violence against someone? Should someone be allowed to stand in front of a bar and point out a trans women so his or her friends can beat up on her? Should someone call upon trans people to be assaulted, raped, murdered because it's "their right"?

You're already taking away someone's right to walk in public or live a safe, comfortable life when you don't come in and say "Look, it's not okay to verbally assault people. It's not okay to threaten someone with violence."

You're no different than this woman.

 

The more I read about Canada, the more enticing it becomes as a safe haven if Donald Drumpf becomes President.

And to the arguments that this is government overreach, it is government overreach in the same sense that desegregation in the US was overreach. Sometimes the feds do need to do things like this to tell states, regions, and provinces that certain acts of discrimination will not be tolerated.

 

Anyone who would abuse a power does not deserve it. Freedom of speech is such a power. Transphobic, homophobic, racist, people, or people who hate the poor, sick or homeless, should all just shut up and take a good look at themselves. For them to voice their hateful opinions is, as it should be, illegal, though I wish the penalty was more severe.

 

Good way to put it. ^^

---------- Post added 19th May 2016 at 03:59 PM ----------

Ikr!?

 

I don't think you're rebutting the freedom to say prejudiced things. These are actions which cause measurable inequality, and that's not good.

What you're talking about isn't simple free speech; it's disorderly conduct because, in layman's terms, it can be expected to raise hell and disrupt daily life. You can hang a banner from your house saying "I hate trannies" and while it's despicable, it's free speech because there is no clear victim. But when you target a particular person face-to-face, it's a little different story.

To continue my previous point, it's still not okay to verbally assault people, and especially not to threaten them. But those are already covered in the law. It's not okay to express hate for people either, but the ability to do so is necessary.

 

Would u allow the KKK or nazis freedom of speech ?

 

Freedom of SPEECH as in words not going out and killing people