Canada Introduces Bill Carving Out Special Protections for Transgenders, PM Trudeau Cheers
"The efforts currently underway in Canada ... would have the effect of criminalizing Christianity." Deacon Keith Fournier
Transgender Canadians will have special protections under a bill introduced Tuesday by the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
As the Associated Press reports:
The Canadian legislation would, if passed, make it illegal to prevent someone from getting a job or to discriminate in the workplace on the basis of gender identity or gender expression. It also expands hate speech laws to include gender identity and gender expression.
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said Tuesday the law is necessary to make it unequivocal that transgender persons have the right to live free from discrimination, hate propaganda and hate crimes.
Similar legislation has failed in the past in Canada, including as recently as last year. However, after his election, Trudeau gave Wilson-Rabould the mandate to re-introduce the legislation, and Trudeau’s government holds the majority of seats in the House of Commons, so it’s expected to pass there. The bill, C-16, will then move over to the Senate.
Trudeau trumpeted the news on Twitter, while commemorating International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
Everyone deserves to live free of stigma & persecution, no matter who they are or whom they love. #FreeToBeMe https://t.co/hoTJoPNCKh
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 17, 2016
Deacon Keith Fournier, editor of Catholic Online and an American Constitutional lawyer, responded immediately. “The efforts currently underway in Canada, to use what is referred to as charges of ‘hate speech’ to enforce this poorly written legislation, would have the effect of criminalizing Christianity,” he told The Stream. “Classical Christians — whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant— respect the dignity of all human persons, including those with gender dysphoria. However, they reject efforts to deny the objective truth concerning the sexual difference between men and women. It is biologically and ontologically a fact that men and women are different — and it is a gift.”
The Canadian proposal comes against the backdrop of the fight in this country to protect bathroom privacy rights, and just days after President Obama ordered public schools across the United States to allow boys who feel like girls to use the girls’ restroom, and vice versa.
