In a hearing convened by Canada’s Alberta Human Rights Tribunal on Monday, the lawyer for an anti-transgender advocate in the small town of Westlock (90 miles north of Edmonton), argued that a flyer distributed by her client calling on residents to protest the installation of a rainbow crosswalk with a trans flag was not hate speech, but an exercise in “free speech.”
“Could it be upsetting? Yes. Could it cause hurt feelings? Yes. But does it cause a person to feel hatred or contempt for trans individuals? We will say the answer to that question is a resounding no,” attorney Allison Pejovic said in opening remarks at the hearing.
This seems thoroughly in the “this person is mentally unwell and needs immediate help” category.
I hate all the anti trans propaganda people eat up.
There’s a legal defence for that argument too, though (“not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder”), but the lawyer was trying to argue that it was not hate speech. For the judge to accept that argument would set the wrong precedent.
I.e., both can be true, even legally.
Yeah. I won’t argue against all the anti-trans people needing some help. heh