Rogaine Ogre won his legal case
The well-known advocate has won her human-rights complaint against a Christian activist who published disparaging flyers about her in Vancouver.
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Vancouver activist Morgane Oger wins ‘landmark’ transgender rights decision
VANCOUVER—A Vancouver human-rights tribunal has ruled there’s no room for public debate about whether transgender people are who they say they are.
Well-known trans advocate Morgane Oger filed the complaint against Christian activist Bill Whatcott after he distributed
flyers disparaging her for being a trans woman.
The case focused on flyers distributed to residents of the Vancouver-False Creek riding in 2017 when trans-rights activist Morgane Oger was running for office with the B.C. NDP. (Jennifer Gauthier / Star Vancouver)
The 104-page ruling, which goes into detail about the types of discrimination trans people face, is a win for trans rights in B.C. and across the country, said Susanna Allevato Quail, Oger’s lawyer.
“This decision is really a landmark decision in establishing the scope of protections under the human-rights code for transgender people,” she said.
“It is not a legitimate subject of public debate, whether or not it’s OK to be transgender or whether transgender people are real.”
Whatcott’s lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment.
The flyers Whatcott distributed described Oger as a “biological male” and a “transvestite.” They were distributed to residents of the Vancouver-False Creek riding in 2017 when Oger was running for office with the B.C. NDP.
Oger filed a human-rights complaint, alleging the
flyers were discriminatory and hateful and targeted her identity as a trans woman. Whatcott denied the allegations, asserting that his freedom of speech and religion entitled him to publish his views on Oger.
In the ruling, distributed to lawyers on Wednesday, the tribunal judge ordered Whatcott to pay Oger $35,000 in compensation for injury to her dignity, feelings and self-respect. Whatcott was also ordered to pay Oger an additional $20,000 for his improper conduct during and before the hearings.
“(It) is really so encouraging ... to have the tribunal say you know you can’t argue that you are just commenting on a legitimate public issue because this is not a public issue. There is no debate about whether people are or should be transgender,” said Quail.