Supreme Court Of Canada Agrees To Hear Case Of Self-Described “Anti-Gay Activist” William Whatcott

The Supreme Court of Canada will now hear the case against William Whatcott, a member of the Christian Truth Activists, who in 2001 and 2002 distributed anti-gay flyers in Saskatoon and Regina that alleged school children were being taught pro-gay propaganda, the CBC reports. One of the flyers read “Our children will pay the price in disease, death, abuse and ultimately eternal judgement if we do not say no to the sodomite desire to socialize your children into accepting something that is clearly wrong.” Four individuals complained to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission that the flyers, found in their mailboxes, unfairly targeted them because of the sexual orientation. In 2005, the Human Rights Commission agreed, and ruled that Whatcott violated the provincial human rights code, ordering him to compensate the four individuals 17,500. Whatcott appealed, arguing that the statute in the Human Rights Code violates a clause in the Canada Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantees a right to free speech. In February, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal overturned the Human Rights Commission and found that the flyers did not violate the Code because the content was protected under the freedom of expression. A case against Whatcott is currently before a provincial judge in Calgary, Alberta, Whatcott charged in July, 2008, with trespassing by the University of Calgary for distributing flyers that contained that same anti-gay rhetoric, Whatcott having been previously banned from campus indefinitely after an incident in January, 2005, when he appeared on campus distributing anti-abortion material.