A new Bill in Canada which aims to prohibit discrimination against gender expression – the gender a person presents themselves as – was heavily criticised by a professor of psychology in November.
Dr Jordan Peterson, of the University of Toronto, said the controversial Bill C-16 could result in him being charged with a hate crime for refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns such as ‘ze’ and ‘zir’ instead of ‘he’ and ‘she’ at work. He said: ‘It’s the first time I’ve seen in our legislative history where people are attempting to make us speak their language.’
Peterson explained that the debate is often pitted as ‘equality versus free speech’, but said these ideals are not in the same category. ‘Free speech is not just another value. It’s the foundation of Western civilisation.’ He has been labelled ‘transphobic’ by some for his defence of free speech.
