A leftist Canadian political party has put forth a bill seeking to form anti-free-speech zones by drag shows and punish anybody who is seen making comments that are considered “offensive” by LGBT activists in the same area.
“The topic that brings us here is deadly serious,” said Wong-Tam, a woman who refers to herself as “they/them,” despite being only one person. “The rise of hate and violence facing the 2SLGBTQI-plus communities, including the drag artists, happening across Ontario and right [across] the nation has been alarming.”
Wong-Tam voiced her support for the criminalization of public opposition to drag shows around the nearby area, saying that any “homophobic, transphobic act of intimidation,” among other things, could lead to a fine of $25,000 CDN following successful prosecution.
Canadian politician Kristyn Wong-Tam, who uses the pseudo-pronouns "they/them," proposes legislation to criminalize "offensive remarks" within 100 meters of a Drag Queen Story Hour.
They want to eliminate free speech and turn normal people into criminals.pic.twitter.com/egqEnXmYe5
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) April 5, 2023
Ontario’s New Democratic Party is an extremist group that is the official political opposition in the conservative-dominated province of Ontario, according to Blaze Media.
State Media in Canada reported that hate crimes surrounding one’s orientation, which Blaze Media states can include verbal or written statements considered to be “hateful,” rose from 258 in 2020 to 423 in 2021. Statistics Canada, which had its work featured by CBC, found that a whopping 1 million of the nation’s 39 million residents considered themselves to be a part of the”LGBTQ” community.
A man named Jon Dobbie, who calls himself “Crystal Quartz,” reportedly complained of dealing with criticism online after he put on a drag show for children.
“They then started showing up to all of my events, screaming at parents and myself saying they were groomers, pedophiles, and a bunch of other homophobic slurs to make everyone there feel unsafe to attend,” he lamented. “These acts of intimidation now made our safe spaces feel unsafe.”
Won-Tam seemed to agree. During her remarks, she asserted that “Drag artists, their audiences, the businesses, and the facilities that host those drag performances have been put at risk.”
“Unless we put forward a strategy to protect them, Ontario’s social, economic, and cultural richness is under attack,” Wong-Tam argued. “We have to protect that.”
Anti-free-speech zones are not the only thing this legislation hopes to bring. It also seeks to create an Ontario “2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee,” with a requirement for its vice chair to be “a member of the Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or other sexually or gender diverse community.”
