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Legislation to ban conversion practices tabled in B.C. Legislature
CBC News ·
Posted: Oct 28, 2021 2:23 PM PT
The B.C. Green Party has tabled legislation that would ban conversion practices across the province.
The legislation introduced Thursday would prohibit any attempts to forcibly change another person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, penalizing anybody who tries it.
"Many conversion practices are targeted to young people and have devastating and lasting effects on their mental well-being. This bill would protect the LGBTQIA2S+ community from the harms of these false treatments," Leader Sonia Furstenau wrote on Twitter after tabling the legislation herself.
Conversion therapy is the discredited practice of forcing people to undergo any treatment aimed at altering sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. It is also known as "reparative therapy" or "aversion therapy."
The B.C. Ministry of Health has described it as an unethical, "terrible, abusive practice" not supported by science.
What, in the world of gender identity, is supported by science?
The Greens brought forward the first iteration of the bill in 2019, but it only applied to people under the age of 19. It did not reach second reading.
A statement from the party Thursday said the new legislation includes both adults and minors and "updates language by request of the community to better capture conversion practices and the harm they cause."
If the legislation passes, B.C. would become the sixth province or territory in the country to ban the practice. It is already prohibited in Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Yukon and Quebec.
"We are delighted to see this historic legislation introduced in British Columbia," Nick Schiavo, the founder of No Conversion Canada, a non-profit dedicated to ending the practice, said in a statement.
"Across the country, provinces and territories have stepped up to fight this abuse, and now it's time for B.C. to do the same."
The federal government also plans to "reintroduce" stalled legislation to criminalize the practice at the national level.
Bill C-6 was passed by the House of Commons in June, but did not make it to a vote in the Senate before the summer break and ultimately died when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the election.
Surprisingly, I am OK with this legislation as long as it only bans forced conversions. It must not get to the point of banning willing conversions.
It appears that there is no place for intelligent, articulate discourse in British Universities anymore, but bullying is OK.
‘Very difficult years’: Renowned philosophy professor Kathleen Stock
quits Sussex University after harassment by trans activists
29 Oct, 2021 13:47
Kathleen Stock, an acclaimed UK philosophy professor, has decided to leave the University of Sussex after transgender activists demanded that she be fired for “transphobic” statements.
“This has been an absolutely horrible time for me and my family. I’m putting it behind me now,” the academic tweeted, announcing her departure after “a very difficult few years.” Stock thanked the university for stating that bullying and harassment for legally held beliefs is unacceptable.
In a letter published on the university’s website, Vice-Chancellor Adam Tickell called Stock’s departure “a loss to us all,” thanking the professor for her tenure at Sussex.
“The University has been consistent and clear that everyone in our community has the right to work and learn, free from bullying and harassment of any kind, which has not been the case for Professor Stock,” Tickell said. He added that it is unlawful to discriminate against anyone “on the grounds of sex and of philosophical belief.”
Stock, who describes herself as a feminist, has written books about various culture topics, including feminism, sexual objectification, and aesthetics. In December 2020, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to higher education.
Trans activists have accused Stock of being a transphobe and waged a largely anonymous campaign to get her fired. The calls intensified this month when flyers were posted around the campus and several people in masks were photographed holding signs that read: “Stock Out.”
An online group calling itself Anti Terf Sussex described Stock as “one of this wretched island’s most prominent transphobes, espousing a bastardised variation of radical feminism.” Trans activists use the term ‘terf’ to describe anyone they regard as a “trans exclusionary radical feminist.”
Stock denied the allegations of transphobia, but she has in the past criticised some ideas championed by transgender rights groups.
In a 2018 op-ed for the Economist, she argued that changing the concept of ‘woman’ to include anyone identifying as transgender will “cause unintended harms” to biological women. “I think we should also ask whether self-declaration alone could reasonably be the only criterion of being trans,” she wrote.
The professor wrote on her personal website this month that the toxic gender identity debate “has allowed a few students with totalitarian tendencies to have a disproportionate chilling effect on the rest.” She told the Guardian in May that the environment has made academics afraid that their careers will suffer if they speak their mind about transgender issues.
God bless you, Dr. Stock. You deserve a long and comfortable retirement, though I fear this present darkness will follow you.
Victory for common sense? UK govt plans to BAN
conversion therapies for children & vulnerable adults
29 Oct, 2021 13:40
A UK government plan to criminalise non-consensual sexuality conversion therapy has drawn a mixed response; critics claim it could be “weaponised” against trans groups, while supporters have termed it a “victory for common sense.”
The proposed plan will make it illegal to try to coerce unwilling individuals – particularly children and vulnerable adults unable to properly consent – to change their sexual preferences or gender identity. But it will permit consenting adults to choose to undergo controversial conversion therapy programmes – while also placing “robust and stringent” requirements on informed consent.
While violent forms of conversion therapy are already punishable under separate offences, the new plan will reportedly make all forms of such therapies punishable by a maximum five-year prison term. The proposal also notes that sentencing for violent offences found to be motivated by conversion therapy must consider it a “potential aggravating factor.”
Announcing a six-week public consultation until December 10 to determine how to legislate the ban, the Government Equalities Office (GEO) stated on Friday that it would explore appropriate sentencing for “physical conversion therapy acts” and introduce ‘Conversion Therapy Protection Orders’ to protect potential victims – which would include seizing the passports of those deemed at risk of being taken overseas for conversion therapy.
Following the consultation period, Women and Equalities Minister Liz Truss will tailor the proposal according to the responses, with the aim of preparing and drawing up legislation by spring 2022. The GEO said it had developed a “practical package of interventions” after discussions with key stakeholders and victims of conversion therapy – many of whom detailed the negative impacts on their mental health.
“There should be no place for the abhorrent practice of coercive conversion therapy in our society,” Truss said, adding that the government was committed to banning an “archaic practice that has no place in modern life” to “make sure LGBT people can live their lives free from the threat of harm or abuse.”
Under the proposals, the work done by regulated medical professionals like psychiatrists and doctors will be protected. But unidentified government sources told The Times that organisations such as Mermaids – a non-profit that counsels children with so-called gender dysphoria – could be outlawed.
The announcement prompted a mixture of responses from social media users, with several commenters applauding the move as a “victory for common sense” that would “save thousands from irreversible harm.” But critics viewed the proposal with suspicion. One person said it “completely [misunderstands] the power dynamics” in conversion therapy and claimed it would be “weaponised” against trans charities.
Noting that “love” was “not a pathology” that needed “treating,” Conservative MP Alicia Kearns tweeted that the “robust” proposals would “protect LGBTQ+ people from bigotry and quackery packaged up by sinister charlatans to snare and profit off the vulnerable.”
But a number of people, including Kearns, raised concerns about the “legal definition” of coercion and the informed consent requirements – with some calling it a possible “loophole”. The government’s former LGBT adviser, Jayne Ozanne, criticised the plan for exempting religious practices. According to the GEO, religious teachings and private prayer would not be construed as conversion therapy.
“If LGBT+ people are being shamed & pressured to go straight by family, religious leaders or their peers, they cannot give genuine consent,” LGBT activist Peter Tatchell tweeted.
‘Inappropriate’ Florida elementary school trip to gay bar angers parents
29 Oct, 2021 11:54
A Florida school board member received backlash this week after she took an elementary school class on a field trip to a gay bar with suggestive menu items.
Broward school board member Sarah Leonardi posted photos of the school trip on Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday which showed the masked children sitting inside the rainbow-themed bar.
“I was SO honored to be invited to chaperone Wilton Manors Elementary’s field trip to the incredible Rosie’s! The students and I had a fun walk over and learned a lot about our community!” Leonardi wrote, before thanking the bar “for hosting this special field trip every year” – an indication that it was not the first time such a trip took place.
Leonardi’s post angered many people on social media, who questioned why children were being taken to an adult, alcohol-oriented venue for a school trip instead of a more appropriate location like a museum or the zoo.
“What was educational about this? Like really, what the hell did they actually do?” asked one man on Facebook, while another person quipped, “Next, they’ll be ordering tequila & vodka shooters with Jell-O shots on the side, for the kiddies. Dumb move on the Board Member and teacher.”
Others called for the board member to be fired and even arrested, protesting, “How can you be allowed to take children to a place like this?!”
The menu at Rosie’s Bar and Grill – which describes itself as a venue for those who are “LBGTQ+ or an ally” and was the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s ‘Best Gay Bar’ of 2015 – features such items as ‘Ivana Hooker’, ‘Miley Highclub’, ‘Rhoda Cowboy’, and ‘Young Ranch Hand’, however the children were provided with a more child-friendly menu during their trip.
Some members of the community attempted to defend the board member, arguing that the trip helps children gain life skills, such as how to order food and pay a bill.
“My family and I go to Rosie’s often and our child believes that the mac and cheese is magic,” one man said, calling on critics to “get a life.”
Good grief! Your poor children.
Protests hit Italy after Senate kills bill broadening
LGBT community’s rights
29 Oct, 2021 10:52
Demonstrators took to the streets in Rome and Milan, following Italy’s Senate vote on an anti-homophobia bill. It proposed to equate anti-LGBT discrimination with racism, and raise sex orientation and gender topics at schools.
The controversial document, known as the ‘Zan bill’ after its initiator, Italy’s center-left MP and LGBT rights activist Alessandro Zan, was rejected by 154 votes in the Senate on Wednesday, while 131 members voted in favor. First introduced in the lower house of parliament in May 2018, it passed the House of Representatives last year in November, but faced challenges in the Senate. Parliament will now be unable to reopen discussions on the proposed law for the next six months, which leaves little time for it to be approved at all before the legislation expires. “The bill is dead,” senator Dario Parrini told Reuters.
“They talked about us for two years and then as if nothing had happened they threw us in the bin,” a protester in the streets of Rome told RT’s video agency Ruptly on Thursday. “But it is always better than having to accept a watered-down text,” she added.
With the bill having sparked heated arguments between liberals and conservatives, its opponents suggested amendments to the initial document. Italy’s Lega Nord leader and former interior minister Matteo Salvini said the pro-bill politicians’ refusal to dialogue turned the legislation into “years of useless discussions.” Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Labor Minister Andrea Orlando called the Senate’s decision a “disgrace.”
“We understood that there was a scam,” a protester in the Italian capital told Ruptly, adding that her companions will “fight to get to our rights.”
If passed, the bill would have added new categories to Italy’s penal code section that specifically outlaws hate crimes and discrimination. The current ‘Mancino law’ from 1993 provides for punishment of discrimination acts on racial, ethnic, national and religious grounds. The new bill would have added acts of discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation, gender identity, sex and disability to the list of offences legally punishable with prison sentences and fines.
“Three years ago I was attacked in broad daylight because of my hair color. I spent a month in hospital, it was a brutal homophobic act,” the bill’s supporter in Milan told Ruptly, adding that Italian forces decrying such acts of violence don’t get enough support from other political parties.
Largely seen as a bill aiming to fight homophobia and legally ban anti-LGBT violence, the legislation has also been criticized for its apparent interference with freedom of expression, and possible gay propaganda in Catholic schools.
Proposing to raise awareness of sex and gender-related issues within public institutions, including ones for minors, and officially recognize the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, the bill became especially unpopular with right-wing politicians and the Vatican. The latter even lodged a formal diplomatic complaint against it, suggesting it might breach the freedom of thought of Catholics, and provide for prosecution of those who express opinions in favor of traditional heterosexual families.
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