Homosexual activism threatens freedom of speech.

I'm ruling last December on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court of Canada claimed that the protection of freedom of religion afforded by s. 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms "is broad and jealously guarded in our Charter jurisprudence." If that is so, how can it be that Canada's human rights thought-police are harassing Catholic Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary and Protestant activist Bill Whatcott of Regina for nothing other than the honest expression of their Christian faith?

Bishop Henry has come under fire for upholding the teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality in a pastoral letter denouncing the Martin government's bill on same-sex marriage. Citing this letter as evidence, Carol Johnson of Calgary has accused the bishop of expressing views that are "likely to expose homosexuals to hatred or contempt" contrary to s. 3 of the Alberta Human Rights Code.

Marie Riddle, the director of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, could have summarily dismissed this complaint on the ground that the bishop has an undeniable right to express his views on same-sex marriage. Instead, she has advised that the Commission could take a year to decide on summoning Bishop Henry before a human rights panel to answer to the complaint occasioned by his pastoral letter.

Meanwhile, Bill Whatcott has been embroiled with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal over the views he expressed on homosexuality in a series of flyers that he and other members of a group known as The Christian Truth Activists distributed in Regina and Saskatoon between September 2001 and April 2002. On May 5, the chairman of the Tribunal, Prince Albert lawyer Anil Pandila, ruled that, in publishing these flyers, Whatcott had violated the ban in s. 14(1) of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code on the publication and distribution of anything that promotes hatred, ridicules, belittles, or otherwise affronts the dignity of any person on the basis of sexual orientation.

In support of this finding, Pandila noted that Whatcott's flyers included statements like the following: "Sodomites are 430 times more likely to acquire AIDS and 3 times more likely to sexually abuse children!" "Born Gay? No Way! Homosexual sex is about risky and addictive behaviour!"

In testimony before the Tribunal, Whatcott defended these statements as truthful, citing as authority Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth by Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, a former lecturer in psychiatry at Yale University and an internationally renowned expert on homosexuality. Whatcott also told Pandila that he harbours no ill-will for homosexuals. He testified that he used to engage in homosexual acts, that the Lord had set him free, and that he is eager to help other homosexuals enjoy that same freedom.

Pandila rejected all of these arguments. Drawing upon precedents set by the Supreme Court of Canada, he held that the intentions of Whatcott in spreading the flyers were irrelevant; that the truthfulness of statements in the flyers was irrelevant; and that the guarantee of "freedom of conscience and religion" in s. 2 (a) of the Charter does not give anyone the right to express religious convictions that expose homosexuals to hatred, ridicule, or contempt.

All Christians should take note. In numerous cases like Whatcott's, human rights tribunals and the courts have made clear that, in their opinion, the equality rights of homosexuals in human rights codes and s. 15 of the Charter trump the ostensible guarantees of freedom of religion in the laws and the Constitution of Canada. Thanks to these judicial rulings, Canadians no longer have a legal right to make a public statement that is liable to expose homosexuals to hatred or contempt, even if the statement is true and reflects the Christian convictions of the speaker.

As for Whatcott, Pandila has ordered him to cease distributing his flyers and to pay $17,500 in damages to four homosexual complainants. Whatcott has refused to comply. On the weekend of May 13-14, he and some fellow Christian Truth Activists defied the Tribunal by distributing 1,000 more flyers in Saskatoon entitled "Sodomites and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission."

Whatcott is on a course for jail as a Christian prisoner of conscience. Bishop Henry's fate is less certain. It seems that human rights tribunals and the courts prefer to go after the little guys first.

Rory Leishman is a national affairs columnist for the London Free Press in London, Ontario. His homepage is www.roryleishman.com