Teach hatred a lesson in irony…

A man has been wandering the streets of Vancouver since 6 October distributing flyers. There’s no place for what he is writing and no excuse for him to be putting such homophobic and transphobic rants to paper and imposing them on innocent victims.

First, I’d like to start by taking a moment to thank everybody who contacted me or police in the last days regarding this. I am dismayed to know that he plans to distribute 10,000 flyes and seems to be well on his way to do so. I am mindful that children and people vulnerable to his hatred are

Because I am running to be elected to the Vancouver School Board and happen to be a transgender woman, this individual thinks he is entitled to harass, demonize, or pathologize a person and everyone else who is not straight and cisgender by distributing 10,000 flyers throughout Vancouver targeting people because of their sexuality or gender identity.

Actually, he is not. Freedom of religion does not extend to acts of hatred such as this. There is no belief or idea that is permitted to force itself onto others in Canada.

What people believe in their hearts is up to them and it is their right to have those beliefs, even as awful as this person holds. It is however also everyone else’s right to be free from harassment or intimidation by hateful people doing the hateful things this individual is doing this week – no matter what his excuse is for acting hatefully.

Last week, I shared with you all that I received the meritorious service medal from of the governor general in the name of the Queen and all Canadians in recognition for service to our country.

These flyers confirm to reasonable people who read them why it was so important to do the work that the Meritorious Service Medal recognizes: that helping win explicit protection from discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression was a service to all Canadians.

There has been a solid online pushback to the flyers that I find heartening. After all, If these flyers help get a transgender woman elected to the Vancouver School Board, maybe he will think twice next time he considers harassing somebody with such an action.

Please share this post and my campaign website (http://votemorganeoger.ca) in your social media. Help make a point, once and for all: there is no room for hatred in Canada, not even hatred disguised as faith.