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Is it slander to call someone gay?

5/31/2012

According to a New York appeals court, it is no longer slander to call someone gay - because there is no longer any stigma to being gay.
Formerly, if someone called a person gay or lesbian, that person could sue for money damages because it was a slur on their reputation.
There are no recent Canadian cases on the topic; but I suspect the result would be the same here if someone tried to sue for being called gay (even if they weren't).

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Do you have a power of attorney or representation agreement? Should you? And what is an 'advance directive'?

5/26/2012

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If you were in a car accident and in a coma, or developed dementia so you couldn't manage your affairs, who would pay your rent or your mortgage? Who would decide what medical treatment you get?You should consider granting an Enduring Power of Attorney to someone so that they can access your funds to manage your financial affairs. Without one, it might be necessary to go to court to get an order permitting someone to access your accounts; or the Public Guardian and Trustee might step in and take over.

The only time you don't need an Enduring Power of Attorney is if you and your partner have everything in joint names.

And who would decide what health care you should receive if you were so severely injured you couldn't decide for yourself? In BC, your spouse (married or common law) can make those decisions for you - but not all of them. Unless you have a Representation Agreement and have consulted a lawyer about it, your partner cannot automatically make the end-of-life decisions that are so important.

What is an Advance Directive? It is a new document that gives you the right to REQUIRE your health care providers to abide by your choices with respect to end of life care. This is different than having a representative who will make decisions for you - it is a direct "order" from you to doctors and hospitals.

If you want a power of attorney, or a representation agreement, or an advance directive, call our office. You can get more information about them from our legal guide "Who Will Care For Me?"

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Free IVF for lesbians in England proposed

5/24/2012

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The national health service in England is proposing to include IVF (in vitro fertilization, a relatively expensive reproductive technology) for women with fertility issues, and for lesbians of all ages. In Canada, by contrast, such procedures are not covered by medicare; and there is a court case saying that there is no violation of a woman's Charter rights not to include these services under medicare.
More: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/05may/Pages/nice-ivf-older-women-same-sex-couples.aspx

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Nepal's LBGTs get citizenship status as 3rd gender

5/24/2012

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The Nepalese government, responding to pressure from the LBGT community and a court case last year, has announced that citizenship documents will now provide an option to identify as a third gender.
The change was greeted with alacrity in the Nepalese queer communities, according to an online article in IBN Live (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/nepals-gays-lesbians-get-citizenship-status/261025-2.html)
It is interesting that in Nepal, being lesbian gay or bisexual, or being transgendered, are treated together; in North America (except for some First Nations) we treat sexual orientation and gender identity as separate concepts.
And it is interesting that Nepalese queers have argued for another category, as opposed to arguing that gender markers should be removed altogether. In pending human rights cases we are arguing that passports (and any other identity document that includes a photo) should have no gender markers.

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Toby's Law: gender identity and gender expression added to Ontario human rights law

5/14/2012

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Christin Molloy has reported (http://chrismilloy.ca/2012/05/tobys-act-likely-to-become-law-in-time-for-pride-full-details-and-next-steps/) that "Toby's Law", the Ontario private members bill that adds "gender identity" and "gender expression" to human rights legislation in that province, has received all party support and is likely to pass very quickly.

B.C. queers may remember Toby Dancer, after whom the bill was named. Toby lived in Vancouver in the early 90s.

B.C. does not yet included gender identity or gender expression in its human rights legislation; however trans people have been successful in all of the human rights complaints that they have brought on the ground of 'sex' and/or, sometimes, 'disability'. So trans people are protected by the current law.

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Obama endorses same sex marriage

5/11/2012

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What does it mean that Obama has endorsed same sex marriage?
Is it
-    a political calculation that he will gain more votes than he will lose by taking this position
-    one of the only progressive things he can do since he doesn't control the Senate or Congress
-    made necessary because Joe Biden said it first
-    a genuine stand for the civil rights of same sex partners
-    all of the above?
I expect that it is all of the above, and more reasons we don't know.

And does it matter?
Definitely.
Before the same sex marriage fight in Canada, people thought that same sex marriage was just a matter of opinion. After we won the marriage cases, forcing the federal government to amend the Marriage Act to permit same sex marriage, Canadians understand that marriage is a Charter-protected civil right. And that has made a huge difference to the general acceptance of queers in this country.

The right is right: gay marriage does change the nature of marriage, because marriage is not exclusive any more. And that is a good thing. It moves us closer to the day when everyone - whether married, common law, or "single" - can have the social benefits which started out available only to married heterosexuals. Such benefits include everything from pension benefits to preferential tax treatment to 'family' discounts. Fully a quarter of the laws of BC affect one's rights as a member of a couple or a family.

I spoke to some queers in the U.S. yesterday about Obama's announcement, and they said that it has had a galvanizing effect on queers there, who are feeling energized and proud about Obama's statement. All the best to our US queer friends and allies in this fight!

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Canadian Human Rights Tribunal wrong to deny First Nations' human rights complaint

5/11/2012

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The First Nations Caring Society, the Assembly of First Nations, and Amnesty International filed a human rights complaint alleging discrimination by the federal government because the funding provided for child welfare services on reserve is much less than is provided by provinces for First Nations children living off reserve.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal held that there was no discrimination because there was no other group which received funding for child welfare services from the federal government, and therefore no one to compare the federal funding policies to, and therefore no discrimination! On that basis, the tribunal dismissed the complaint without even hearing evidence.
The Federal Court said that the Tribunal made a mistake in dismissing the application at that stage and sent the case back to be heard by a different panel of the tribunal. Stay tuned for the decision of that panel.
For the complete decision: Canadian Human Rights Commission v Canada
http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?text=first+nations+caring+society&language=en&searchTitle=Search+all+CanLII+Databases&path=/en/ca/fct/doc/2012/2012fc445/2012fc445.html

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University must permit anti-gay leafletting

5/11/2012

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Whatcott went to the University of Calgary to distribute anti-gay leaflets. The University charged him with trespassing. Whatcott argued successfully that the university cannot charge him with trespassing in those circumstances, because his right to distribute anti-gay leaflets is protected by the guarantee of freedom of expression in the Charter of Rights.
For the complete decision: R v Whatcott
http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?text=whatcott&language=en&searchTitle=Search+all+CanLII+Databases&path=/en/ab/abqb/doc/2012/2012abqb231/2012abqb231.html

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