'Bible
as hate speech' signed into law
WorldNetDaily.com
| April 30, 2004
Canadian
measure said to 'chill' opposition to homosexual behavior.
Canada's governor general, the representative
of Queen Elizabeth II, signed into law yesterday a controversial measure
opposed by religious believers and free-speech advocates who say it will
criminalize public expression against homosexual behavior.
The bill, passed 59-11 by the Senate on Wednesday,
adds sexual orientation as a protected category in Canada's genocide and
hate-crimes legislation, which carries a penalty of up to five years in
prison.
The House of Commons passed the bill in September,
141-110.
As WorldNetDaily reported, opponents have feared
if it becomes law, the Bible will be deemed "hate literature" under
the criminal code in certain instances, as evidenced by the case of a Saskatchewan
man fined by a provincial human-rights tribunal for taking out a newspaper
ad with Scripture references to verses about homosexuality.
The bill's sponsor, openly homosexual MP Svend Robinson,
has insisted it protects religious expression, but opponents, such as the
Canada Family Action Coalition, note recent court cases in which judges
have favored homosexual rights when they clash with the rights of religious
believers.
Some members of Parliament have called it a "dangerous"
law that muzzles free speech, including Liberal Party member John McKay,
who dubbed it a "chill bill."
"Anybody who has views on homosexuality that
differ from Svend Robinson's will be exposed rather dramatically to the
joys of the Criminal Code," McKay said last fall.
Robinson, who recently in a tearful apology
to supporters admitted stealing a $50,000 ring, has said fears that freedom
of speech and religion will suffer are "a mask for homophobia for people
who don't want to be honest about the real reason why they don't want to
include sexual orientation in the law."
