15°c Light rain showers
17°c Cloudy with showers
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Anti-gay crusader vows to ignore high court ruling
OTTAWA -- A Saskatchewan anti-gay crusader says he'll ignore a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that he violated human-rights rules when he distributed pamphlets denouncing homosexuals.
In a 6-0 decision Wednesday, the high court found two of the four flyers distributed by William Whatcott violated Saskatchewan's Human Rights Code.
Those flyers referred to gay men as sodomites and pedophiles.
But the court struck down some language in the provincial code, clearing Whatcott of any wrongdoing in connection with two other flyers.
Whatcott dismissed the ruling, insisting he won't stop distributing material expressing his religious views.
"I believe God has called me to speak on these moral issues," Whatcott told The Canadian Press. "So looking at it from that perspective, I'll likely put out another flyer articulating the Judeo-Christian viewpoint on homosexuality in my usual blunt and forthright manner."
He referred to the high court justices as socialists "who've butchered our law, or our tradition of free speech."
"I'm not going to pay a lot of attention to it. I view this ruling as rubbish and I think that our seven Supreme Court justices are a disgrace."
Whatcott produced and distributed leaflets in 2000 and 2001 that contained inflammatory statements about gay men, prompting complaints to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.
A tribunal ruled Whatcott violated the province's human rights code, but that finding was overturned by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
The commission appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing Whatcott's flyers essentially asserted gays and lesbians are less than human, exposing them to discrimination.
The high court agreed with respect to two of the flyers, saying they constituted hate speech under the code.
The vilifying and derogatory representations used in the flyers created a "tone" of hatred against homosexuals, Justice Marshall Rothstein wrote on behalf of the court. "It delegitimizes homosexuals by referring to them as filthy or dirty sex addicts and by comparing them to pedophiles, a traditionally reviled group in society."
The Supreme Court struck down a portion of the Saskatchewan charter. It found that language in the code defining hate literature as something that "ridicules, belittles or otherwise affronts the dignity of any person" is unconstitutional.
The ruling could have implications for other provinces with similar language in their human rights codes.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 28, 2013 A11
More Latest News
- Back to Top
- Return to Latest News
More Latest News
(1 of 46 articles for today)
Selinger talks tax at NDP convention in Brandon
7:45 PM 0
Poll
Most Popular Latest News
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- Woman drove into river on purpose
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Rare comic book featuring debut of Superman found insulating abandoned house in Minnesota
- 'I told them, "I think that guy downstairs is dead"': teen witness at murder trial
- Katz knew golf plan doomed 'months ago'
- City's first urban reserve born
- Systemic approach to voter interference 'extremely worrisome': Trudeau
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- 87-year-old woman tells jurors, 'Somebody had to stand up to' Donald Trump
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- Winnipeg woman camps out in front of legislature to protest child welfare
- 2 dead in crash near Portage la Prairie
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Two men now facing first-degree murder charges in Tim Bosma test drive death
- Rainfall warning issued for southern Manitoba
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Seattle man dribbling soccer ball to Brazil killed by car on Oregon Coast
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- 87-year-old woman tells jurors, 'Somebody had to stand up to' Donald Trump
- Driver crashes into tree near golf course
- Arrests made after raids on local head shops
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- News of city's $17-million winner leaks out on FB
- Passengers from diverted flight to leave Winnipeg Thursday night
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Catching up with Arrested Development's Bluth family
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Lake St. Martin reserve close to getting new home
- Toews 'disappointed' U.S., Canada at loggerheads over meat labeling regulations
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- Bridge collapse survivor who fell in river: 'You hold on as tight as you can'
- Actress Amanda Bynes arrested in NYC on a marijuana charge after she threw a bong out a window
- New owner for lumber stores
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
- Marsh Madness: Photographers Fred Greenslade and Joe Bryksa capture spring migration's grandeur at Delta Marsh
- Prominent Canadians back petition to rename Victoria Day to honour aboriginals
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Skin picking gets status as distinct disorder, should help sufferers access help
- Order of Manitoba recipients announced
- New owner for lumber stores
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Dogs can experience separation anxiety and depression just like humans
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Saskatchewan professor wants to test the health benefits of nose-picking
- 'Revenge of the redheads': Ginger-haired Montrealers gather in celebration
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Passengers from diverted flight to leave Winnipeg Thursday night
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.