What is Hate Speech? The Attack on SOGI 123

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Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson (r) and Jenn Smith at the anti-SOGI protest in Victoria, BC which they organized on September 29, 2018, where dozens of counter-protesters also gathered. Photo - Black Press Media

To quote Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson who names herself as CEO of Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson Ministries "Disagreement with an ideology is not hate." Thompson has been in the cross-hairs of furious parents of LGBTQ kids, their allies, and many groups related to K-12 education across British Columbia because of her crusade to have SOGI 123, which she calls an ideology, removed from schools. Some of Thompson's critics have labeled her social media posts as hate speech. SOGI 123 is a set of resources for teachers to help create safe schools for all students regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This was implemented two years ago by BC's Ministry of Education and has been adopted by all 60 school districts across the province.

Thompson has also been involved in recently organizing a coalition of evangelical pastors to create what they call the West Coast Christian Accord (WCCA) to not only fight against SOGI 123 but also to proclaim their views on Christianity relative to LGBTQ people, with specific mention of transgender individuals and same-sex marriage. Their proclamation which may be viewed here, when boiled down, seeks to erase anyone who doesn't conform to their views. In fact they describe transgender and gay people as simply having adopted a transgender or gay self-perception which can be dealt with by the person denying their gender identity or sexual orientation and seeking help from God to deal with their affliction. The accord proclaims that marriage is only recognized as being between a man and a woman. As an aside they also state that eternal salvation is only available through Jesus Christ, so it seems they don't recognize any other spiritual beliefs such as Buddhism or Islam. Yes, it is 2018!

Thompson is currently seeking election to the Burnaby School District as a trustee where she intends to fight against SOGI 123 and impose her extreme religious views upon the public school system.

What is the meaning of hatred in the context of the Canadian criminal code? The various laws which refer to "hatred" do not define it. The Supreme Court has explained the meaning of the term in various cases which have come before the Court. For example, in R v Keegstra, decided in 1990, Chief Justice Dickson for the majority explained the meaning of "hatred" in the context of the Criminal Code:
Hatred is predicated on destruction, and hatred against identifiable groups therefore thrives on insensitivity, bigotry and destruction of both the target group and of the values of our society. Hatred in this sense is a most extreme emotion that belies reason; an emotion that, if exercised against members of an identifiable group, implies that those individuals are to be despised, scorned, denied respect and made subject to ill-treatment on the basis of group affiliation.
More recently, in 2013, Justice Rothstein, speaking for the unanimous court, explained the meaning of "hatred" in similar terms, in relation to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code:
In my view, "detestation" and "vilification" aptly describe the harmful effect that the Code seeks to eliminate. Representations that expose a target group to detestation tend to inspire enmity and extreme ill-will against them, which goes beyond mere disdain or dislike. Representations vilifying a person or group will seek to abuse, denigrate or delegitimize them, to render them lawless, dangerous, unworthy or unacceptable in the eyes of the audience. Expression exposing vulnerable groups to detestation and vilification goes far beyond merely discrediting, humiliating or offending the victims. [Source]
Is Thompson then guilty of hate speech through her WCCA affiliation, her social media posts and rally rants? Are she and her colleagues attempting to create ill will toward people who identify as LGBTQ, to scorn and despise them, or to delegitimize them? If you read her social media posts and the replies of her followers you may conclude that she is establishing her targets as dangerous, unworthy, and unacceptable in the eyes of her audience. I will leave it to you to decide if what she is communicating is hate speech.

I am however concerned about what I consider a bigger problem. Through her affiliation with the evangelical scoundrels, and I am being generous with that term, and in creating what they call an accord they are teaching that to be anywhere on the spectrum of LGBTQ is wrong, and living life as your true self is a sin in the eyes of God. There are multiple problems with this thinking. The ones that immediately come to mind are: 1) Hate crimes against LGBTQ people are already higher in proportion to general members of the population. Religious teachings that being LGBTQ is morally wrong and that God is punishing the world because of tolerance of this immorality only encourage people who are brainwashed with this religious extremism to develop hatred leading to such crimes. 2) Youth who are subjected to this doctrine from their parents and religious community, or dare we go there, from public educators, and are LGBTQ or may be questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation, are much more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and consider, attempt or commit suicide. [Source] We already know the story of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teenager who took her own life because her parents couldn't bring themselves to accept her gender identity because of their strongly held religious beliefs. 

 The rainbow in all of this, no pun intended, is that the anti-SOGI activism has rallied people across the province and country to come out in solidarity and in the last few days the hashtag #SOGIis4me has been trending nationwide. We can all remain vigilant in calling out darkness when we see it and raising our voices in support of our vulnerable youth.
Are Thompson's strongly held religious beliefs and attempts to take Canada back to the dark ages of religious and legal oppression of LGBTQ people only serving to incite fear and hatred and keep the masses uneducated? Hasn't it always been the objective of religious extremists to keep people uneducated to make them more pliable to their dogma? It is no wonder that Thompson and her group want to keep youth uneducated. These evangelicals are a dying breed and are struggling for survival.



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