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46 McGill L. J. 69 (2000-2001)
More Censorship or Less Discrimination--Sexual Orientation Hate Propaganda in Multiple Perspectives

handle is hein.journals/mcgil46 and id is 79 raw text is: More Censorship or Less Discrimination? Sexual Orientation Hate Propaganda in Multiple Perspectives Jonathan Cohen* If hate propaganda pits anti-censorship advocates against ani-discrimi ion advocates, sexual minorities oc- cupy an ambiguous position in this debate. Because they often find themselves fighting against censorship--and have, at least in the United States, made more gains in this area than in that of equal protection-sexual minorities have traditionally promoted strong freedom of expression values. However, recent advances in jurisprudence inter- preting the Canadian Charier of Rights and Freedoms. particularly the inclusion of sexual orientation as an analo- gous prohibited ground for discrimination under section 15, have prompted sexual minorities to pursue a vigorous anti- discrimination agenda. This agenda recently culminated in the Supreme Court of Canada's decisions in riend v. Al- berta and M. v. H., which, by reading sexual orientation into a provincial human rights statute and extending spousal support to same-sex couples, provide considerable authority for extending Canada's Criminal Code hate propaganda provisions to sexual minorities. At the same time, a growing body of comparative and international law--in particular the United Nations Human Rights Committee's recent decision in Toonen v. Australia-has extended the norm of anti-discrimination to sexual minori- ties. These developments, combined with Canada's well- established commitment to criminalizing hate and its emerging commitment to substantive equality, suggest that sexual orientation hate propaganda is best analyzed as an issue of discrimination, not censorship. This conclusion should commend the extension of hate propaganda meas- ures to protect sexual minorities to even those gay rights activists who dread further incursions into civil liberties. Les minoritds smexules occupent une poitioa ambi- gu'd dans I da at sur la propaganda haimuse. qui oppose les partisans de mesmtes anti-cnsure Ai ceux dz nur ant-discrimination. En effet. parce qu'cItes doiet sou- vent ddfendre leur propre liber6 d'expressioa et oat. str- tout aux ttats-Unis connu dans cc domainm dis sur cs plus significatifs que dans ceii d ldgafitS d protection. les minorits sexuelles se son faites les dfen-urs d la li- bert6 d'exprcssion. Les prj8 r&cents de lajurispnxuenre sous la Charre canadienme des drois el libercs. doant rinclusion de l'oientation sexulle au nombre des motifs analogues de discrimination prohil. oant touzefois men ces minoritds a faire de la lue judiciaire conte la discri- mintation une priorit. Leur ction mna 5 des r&..d concrets A travers les dkisions de la Cour supi'me du Ca- nada dans Vend c. Albena et At. c. H. qui supportent par une autorit6 considtrable 1'extemion des dispositions du Code criminel portant sur la propaganda hainec at, mi- noritds sexuelles. Lc droit comparn et international - en particulier la d6cision du Comitd des drols d 'Homme des Nations Unies dans Toonen c. Australie - pennt 6galement de constater un d argissement des nomas ani- discrimination aux minoritds sexuelles. Ces dlvhlae- ments r:ents, s'ajouant a I'engagement du Canadai cii- minaliser les manifestations de hai et Z ccIuL plus rdcent. h protiger le droit A I',gali he m nt A [a conclusion qua la propagande haineusc relide i'orientation sexulle doit etre analyst en termes de discrimination plutZt qua de censure. Cette conclusion devrait mmr m2e les aztivi es homo- sexuels qui craignent Ils limitations aum droits d: la per- sonne a supporter I'extension des mesures comic la propa- gande haineuse arm de promger lea membres des minoritls sexuelles. BA. cwn laude (Yale), M.PhiL (Cambridge), LL.B. (Toronto); beginning a clerkship with Justice Michel Bastarache at the Supreme Court of Canada in January 2001. The author would like to thank Professor IrvAn Coder, M.P, for whose seminar this paper was first written. © McGill Law Journal 2000 Revue de droit de McGill 2000 To be cited as: (2000) 46 McGill L. 69 Mode de rfdrence: (2000) 46 R.D. McGill 69

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