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.
I don’t disagree, I just worry a lot about that last point you made. This could easily become a cudgel for all sorts of things that worry me.
Yea fair. I actually just reworded it slightly.
It’s already a cudgel. Pro-ICE kid that got hit full video. Quantitatively speaking, I don’t think what you’re concerned about is even a blip on the radar compared to the social harm already being experienced every day. Like yes people could go to jail under a ‘bad government’ but like conservatism is literally killing the planet. I’ll cross that other bridge if we even get there.