- Dear Free Speech Supporter:
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- It's homosexuals 1, Christians 0. The homosexual lobby
has scored another victory. Having hurt the feelings of four homosexuals,
two of whom didn't even come to testify at the tribunal hearing, Saskatchewan
religious activist Whatcott must pay $17,500 for their hurt feelings and
fears. Of course, his intentions and even the truth of much of what he
said are irrelevant. The complaint was made " by Brendan Wallace of
Regina, Saskatchewan, James Komar, of Saskatoon, Guy Taylor, Saskatoon,
and Kathy Hamre, of Regina, against William G. Whatcott, Regina. "
In 2001 and 2002, Mr. Whatcott and a group called Christian Truth Activists
did a number of literature distributions around Saskatchewan using several
leaflets critical of homosexual behaviour and warning of the dangers to
society of such behaviour. The literature did not mention any of the four
complainants, three of whom will get $5,000 and the fourth $2,500 for their
hurt feelings and distress. Not bad for filing a complaint about your wounded
feelings and possibly damaged self-esteem.
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- The decision of the one-man --he being one Anil [I did
check the spelling!] K. Pandila, -- Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal
decision delivered May 2, 2005, makes for Orwellian reading.
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- To add insult to injury, the tribunal, in the heroin-fog
of human rights repressive double speak, could brightly conclude that Mr.
Whatcott rights to religious belief and free speech were not violated.
We shall go off happily to the Gulag singing the praises of our benefactor
Comrade Stalin. "I accept and adopt the above noted reasons in Bell
and Owens and find that s.14 of the Code is a reasonable restriction on
Whatcott's right to freedom of religion and expression as guaranteed by
s.2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.," Pandila wrote.
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- Mr. Whatcott represented himself and testified on his
own behalf. He called as an expert witness Rev. Irwin Pudrycki "Mr.
Pudrycki" -- insultingly Pandila refuses to acknowledge his title
of reverend - "was an ordained minister of the Lutheran Church of
Canada. He had been trained by the Church at a junior college, senior
college and seminary. At senior college, he received his BA in Greek and
a seminary master of divinity. Although recently retired, he had been actively
practising as an ordained minister for 35 years. He did not consider himself
to be an expert on homosexuality, but he did support the Church's position
on it. He was qualified as an expert to testify on the Lutheran Church
of Canada and its position on homosexuality.
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- Irwin Pudrycki testified that part of his duties as an
ordained minister was to speak out against any injustices in society, not
just homosexuality, but anything that would not and does not abide by the
word of God as represented by the Ten Commandments. He stated that he
would feel cheated and betrayed if he were prevented in any way from fulfilling
his duties. He felt that society's standards about what was right and
what was wrong had come down a far way and that while it was okay for homosexuals
to speak freely about their rights, the Christian conviction was being
quashed. He believed that sodomy was wrong and that God did not want his
people to commit sodomy.
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- Pudrycki indicated that the Church did not promote a
position of hatred against the homosexual community. Rather the Church
believed it to be a wrongful lifestyle, of which there were many, and the
purpose of the Church was to point out the problem which in a general sense
was sin, and then the solution which was to seek forgiveness through Christ.
As authority for his position he referred to a number of scriptures contained
in Resolution 93.1.05 of the Lutheran Church of Canada which was entered
as Exhibit 6 in the proceedings.
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- Pudrycki did not interpret the contents of Schedule "D"
to the Agreed Statement of Facts tendered as Exhibit 7 as being hateful.
Rather he viewed the contents as urging people to hear the message of
redemption and did not think the Church would have any problem with it."
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- "Mr. Taylor who is gay, testified that he was hurt
by the contents of the flyer. The next day he read it again and started
to cry. He viewed the contents of the flyer as hateful and mean and felt
that he was being referred to as 'filthy' and "perverted". He
felt that the use of the word "sodomite" as a reference to homosexuals
was akin to a racial slur. Apart from being hurtful, he testified that
it was really not true. He also was offended at having his lifestyle referred
to as 'filthy'. Taylor testified further that he was particularly offended
at being told that he needed to 'break free of his sexual bondage and develop
wholesome and healthy relationships'. He testified that reference to the
word 'proselytize' in the flyer, made him sound predatory. He described
the flyer as very offensive and so painful that it made him cry."
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- "Brendan Wallace is a resident of Regina and employed
by the Worker's Compensation Board as a team leader on a service team.
He found the flyer entered as Schedule "F" to the Agreed Statement
of Facts tendered as Exhibit 7, in his mailbox on the morning of April
8th, 2002. Mr. Wallace was already familiar with the public speakings
of William Whatcott and he assumed the flyer was a message of discrimination
against gay people. He interpreted the flyer as saying that gay people
were abusing children or want to abuse children in some fashion. He stated
that he was angry about the pamphlet, but also fearful as he initially
viewed this as a personal attack on his partner and himself. He described
his life experiences of including things such as verbal attacks, physical
violence, being chased on foot and by vehicle, having a gay pride flag
ripped off his home and someone trying to remove him from his employment
all because of the fact that he was gay. He felt that his home and pets
might not be safe. Ironically, it was with some relief that he later learned
this was a widely distributed pamphlet and that his home had not been specifically
targeted.
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- Wallace testified that he worried about how his parents
and 90 year old grandmother would react to the pamphlet. He felt the pamphlet
contained lies such as gay people being pedophiles and gay people engaging
in sodomy. He believed that the literature was hate literature directed
towards gay people. He indicated that if he was awarded any compensation,
he would donate it to the Gay Pride Committee of Regina."
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- Utterly discounting Mr. Whatcott's sincerity and desire
to warn of a danger to public good, Pandila decided: "The intention
of Whatcott in writing and distributing the flyers is irrelevant."
Further, he ignored the corroborating evidence of Rev. Pudrykci, and chose
to rely completely on the testimony of a homosexual advocate, Gens Hellquist..
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- "Gens Hellquist was employed as the executive director
of the Gay and Lesbian Health Services (GLHS) in Saskatoon. The main purpose
of GLHS was to address the impact that homophobia has in the lives of gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, as well as their family and
friends. GLHS also provides a number of support programs for gay and lesbian
people as well as counselling services. He had been involved with the
gay and lesbian community as a volunteer or employee for 31 years. Hellquist
had been contracted by Health Canada to sit on committees looking at gay
health issues, specifically HIV/AIDS and had also been appointed by the
Saskatchewan Minister of Health to sit on an advisory committee on HIV/AIDS.
His CV was entered as Exhibit 5 in the proceedings and sets out his educational
qualifications. He had previously been qualified as an expert witness
in a prior human rights hearing, but had not been accepted as an expert
witness in either the Court of Queen's Bench or the Provincial Court.
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- Hellquist testified that he received numerous telephone
calls from people who were upset with the materials listed in Schedules
"D" to "G". The calls came from Regina, Saskatoon
and Swift Current. He also had people who received the documents come
to his office in tears. In his view the documents distributed by Whatcott
were an attempt to portray gay men as sodomites and pedophiles who should
not be around children and that the civil law should discriminate against.
They portrayed gay people as filthy, perverted and unacceptable to society.
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- Hellquist felt that the materials listed in Schedules
"D" to "G" had the potential to be very devastating
on gays and lesbians, especially amongst the youth. They would particularly
impact on one's self-esteem."
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- One of the objections to homosexual practices raised
by Mr. Whatcott referred to an ad in Perceptions, a Saskatchewan homosexual
magazine. Amazingly, Hellquist sought to explain away the pedophilic suggestions
of an ad that was seaqrching for "boys/men" - note which word
comes first - and adding that "your age, look & nationality"
don't matter. Again, note that the first item is age. "He did not
interpret the circled ad's reference to 'searching for boys/men' and 'Your
age, look & nationality is not so relevant' as an invitation for children.
Rather he viewed it as a reference to people in the community who wanted
to go out and have fun and who were not stuck in the traditional male role.
According to Hellquist, the word 'boy' has many usages in society. . Hellquist
denied that a reasonable person might conclude that the ad circled in Schedules
"F" and "G" might suggest someone predatory in nature
who was looking for something kind of young. He did acknowledge that the
ad did not appear in subsequent editions of the Perceptions magazine, but
denied that the ad had been pulled as a result of Whatcott's flyers. "
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- The one-man tribunal found hateful many statements that
are objectively true or expressions of mainline Christian religious belief:
"I also have no hesitation in concluding that the material contained
therein can objectively be viewed as exposing homosexuals to hatred and
ridicule. The combined references to:
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- 'Sodomites are 430 times more likely to acquire Aids
and 3 times more likely to sexually abuse children!';
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- 'Born Gay? No Way! Homosexual sex is about risky and
addictive behaviour!';
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- 'If Saskatchewan's sodomites have their way, your school
board will be celebrating buggery too!';
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- 'Don't kid your selves; homosexuality is going to be
taught to your children and it won't be the media stereotypes of two monogamous
men holding hands.';
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- 'The Bible is clear that homosexuality is an abomination';
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- 'Sodom and Gomorrah was given over completely to homosexual
perversion and as a result destroyed by God's wrath';
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- 'Our acceptance of homosexuality and our toleration of
its promotion in our school system will lead to the early death and morbidity
of many children';
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- also exposes or tends to expose to hatred, ridicules,
belittles or otherwise affronts their dignity on the basis of their sexual
orientation.
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- In Schedule "F" and "G", I also find
that the material contained therein can objectively be viewed as exposing
homosexuals to hatred and ridicule. The combined references to:
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- 'Saskatchewan's largest gay magazine allows ads for men
seeking boys!';
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- 'If you cause one of these little ones to stumble it
would be better that a millstone was tied around your neck and you were
cast into the sea'
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- also exposes or tends to expose to hatred, ridicules,
belittles or otherwise affronts their dignity on the basis of their sexual
orientation. "
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- Pandila noted that the Saskatchewan Human Rights Act
says that it does not intend to restrict freedom of speech or religion:
"'14(2) Nothing in subsection (1) restricts the right to freedom
of speech under the law upon any subject.
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- Section 5 provides:
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- 5. Every person and every class of persons shall,
under the law, enjoy the right to freedom of expression through all means
of communication, including without limiting the generality of the foregoing,
the arts, speech, the press or radio, television or any other broadcasting
device.'"
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- That sounds great. He, then, erases the right of Mr,.
Whatcott and, by extension Saskatchewan residents who hold traditional
Christian views on homosexuality to express those views.
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- Now to the decision. Mr. Whatcott is to be gagged. "There
will be an order pursuant to s. 31.3 (a) of the Code prohibiting William
G. Whatcott and/or Christian Truth Activists from distributing the flyers
listed in Schedules "D" to "G" of the Agreed Statement
of Facts, or any similar material which promotes hatred against individuals
because of their sexual orientation," Pandila decided.
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- Poor Mr. Taylor, he of the tears, had the misfortune
to complain before new more repressive amendments to the Act. He collected
only $2,500. Mr. Wallace, who claimed the pamphlet made him fear for
his pets and his property, cashes in with a $5,000 cheque. Of the remaining
two,"neither of these Complainants was able to attend the hearing
and provide evidence. Apparently Kathy Hamre was out of the country and
James Komar was unable to attend for health reasons. Accordingly there
is no direct evidence as to the specific impact of the flyers on these
two Complainants." That didn't matter. Mr. Whatcott will have to pay
each of them $5,000.
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- We've warned before, the homosexual agenda, aggressively
pursued by this newly empowered and heavily government-funded group, and
abetted by courts and human rights commissions contemptuous of and biased
against the Christian Majority aims at nothing less than the silencing
of its critics. That means traditional Christianity. It may soon be possible
to express traditional Christian morality only in whispers. The homosexuals
may have come out of the closet and, if Mr. Whatcott's planned appeal is
not successful, Christians may soon be driven back into the catacombs.
In Canada's increasingly corrupted courts and their sidekicks, human rights
tribunals, freedom of speech and religion count for little. Homosexual
feelings and self-esteem trump the right to express the teachings of the
Bible again and again.
-
- Paul Fromm
- Director
- CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION
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