|
Panel: Writer Of Anti-gay Letter Broke Human Rights Law By Shannon Montgomery, THE CANADIAN PRESS
CALGARY - November 30, 2007 - An Alberta man who has pressed for five years to get an anti-gay letter branded as hate literature won a victory Friday with a human rights commission ruling that said it broke provincial law and may even have played a role in the beating of a gay teenager. The letter, written by Stephen Boissoin and published in the Red Deer Advocate in 2002, carried the headline "Homosexual agenda wicked" and suggested gays were as immoral as pedophiles, drug dealers and pimps. Darren Lund, a high school teacher in Red Deer at the time, complained to the Alberta Human Rights Commission after the teenager was beaten in the city two weeks after the letter was published. In Friday's ruling, commission panel chairwoman Lori Andreachuk said both Boissoin and the Concerned Christian Coalition to which he belonged broke provincial human rights law by likely exposing gays to hatred and contempt. "I find that there is a circumstantial connection between the hate speech of Mr. Boissoin and the CCC and the beating of a gay teenager in Red Deer less than two weeks following the publication of Mr. Boissoin's letter," Andreachuk wrote. The Advocate was not named in the complaint because the newspaper agreed in a previous human rights settlement to amend its policy on letters to include a ban on publishing any that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Lund, now a university professor in Calgary, welcomed the ruling, saying it sends a strong message that the rights of everyone in the province will be protected. "I realized that this kind of talk in public is dangerous," he said in explaining his reason for filing the complaint. "It actually promotes a climate that makes these kids even more vulnerable than they already are." The panel ruling suggested that human rights law is a reasonable limit on freedom of expression. "It is, in my view, nonsensical to enact broad and paramount and remedial legislation, such as human rights legislation, to protect the dignity and human rights of Albertans, only to have it overridden by the expression of opinion in all forms," Andreachuk wrote. Jim Blake, the national chairman of what is now Concerned Christians Canada, said the decision sets a worrisome precedent against freedom of speech and religion. "If you really can't speak out your religious viewpoints, that is tyrannical." Boissoin was trying to help homosexual people through his actions and would never have advocated hurting anyone, Blake said. He also called the link to the assault on the teenager unfair. "I think that's overstating it," he said. "I think that people are directly responsible for their own actions. He had no intent of inciting anger or a physical reaction from anybody against homosexual people." Andreachuk wrote that since she heard no evidence from the group, she found that they contravened the same law as Boissoin, but Blake said the group was following legal advice to remain silent during the proceedings. The commission will hold a hearing at a later date to decide on what remedies it will impose. If a fine is levied, Lund said he'd like to see the money go to the Alberta Teachers Association's diversity, equity and rights committee. "And some kind of meaningful apology that a line was crossed here, and (that) words like that are likely to cause people to experience hatred, as the panel chair has ruled today." Lund himself has been the target of death threats and hate mail over the affair. "It's really disturbing the lengths people go to to express their hatred, I guess." Boissoin and his lawyer could not be reached for comment. During the panel's hearing earlier this year, Boissoin testified that Craig Chandler - a former CEO of the coalition who recently won a provincial Progressive Conservative nomination in Calgary - was aware of and supported what he was doing. Chandler posted a formal apology on the coalition's website about the letter last January after a separate complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Tory officials are scheduled to review Chandler's nomination on Saturday. In Calgary on Friday, Premier Ed Stelmach said that while
he'd heard about the human rights decision, he hadn't had time
to review it and couldn't comment on Chandler's connection. He
said that he'll be present at the nomination review, and would
not judge the candidate before that time. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2007/11/30/4698332-cp.html |
|