Tag Archives: LGBTQ

Social Media Erupts After Skittles’ ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ Packaging Goes Viral

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Social Media Erupts After Skittles’ ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ Packaging Goes Viral

ByZach Jewell•Aug 12, 2023   DailyWire.com•

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Skittles is facing backlash after images of its “Pride” packaging, featuring pro-trans statements, went viral on social media Friday. 

The candy packaging that Skittles advertises on its website features slogans such as “Joy Is Resistance” and “Black Trans Lives Matter.” Skittles, which is owned by Mars, partnered with GLAAD, a media monitoring organization that espouses radical gender theory, to reveal the packaging for Pride Month earlier this year.

This past June was the fourth year Skittles partnered with GLAAD “to support the LGBTQ+ community by amplifying and celebrating their stories,” according to its website. Skittles said it will “donate $1 for every Skittles Pride pack sold to GLAAD in support of their ongoing efforts to work through media to combat anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.” 

On its website, Skittles also promoted a podcast called “Queery” hosted by Cameron Esposito, who focuses on LGBTQ topics and activism. 

“Stay tuned for a special Pride-themed miniseries of Queery where we dive deeper into queer storytelling and the artists that designed this year’s SKITTLES Pride Packs,” the candy brand says. https://339c8f3d452ce84a85201d7cd1d1f076.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.htmlhttps://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0

For a short time in 2020, Skittles “gave up” the rainbow that famously dons its colorful packaging for a black and white package to “give the rainbow back” to the LGBTQ community for Pride Month. https://339c8f3d452ce84a85201d7cd1d1f076.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

Conservatives ripped Skittles after images of packaging went viral on social media, saying the candy brand is targeting children with a pro-trans agenda. Skittles is a favorite brand among children and young adults, with over 75% of Gen Z adults holding a favorable impression of the brand, according to a Morning Consult survey released last year. 

“[Skittles] is trying to turn your kids into BLM & LGBTQ+ activists,” popular account Libs of TikTok wrote on X. “Their packaging also features a drag queen. Skittles have gone completely woke.”

“WTH? Skittles is Now Marketing Woke Idiocy To Children On Their Candy Wrappers!” another person said. “This isn’t an Adult Beverage, Like Bud Light They Warned us They Were Coming After Our Kids- Let’s Make Sure They Hear Our Response Loud and Clear On This One Skittles- And

Others said Mars, Skittles’ parent company, will get “the Bud Light treatment” after pushing radical gender theory on its customers. Bud Light’s maker Anheuser-Busch lost billions in market value after partnering with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney, who showcased a can with his face on it in a viral video. 

Mars isn’t the first candy company to face backlash this year for pushing radical gender theory. In March, Hershey’s faced a boycott after featuring Fae Johnstone, a man who identifies as transgender, as part of its International Women’s Day promotion. In response, Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing launched Jeremy’s Chocolate, featuring He/Him and She/Her chocolate bars.

Government-funded school pamphlet warns against Conservative Party, free speech, Trump & Labels the Red Ensign “Hate”

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Government-funded school pamphlet warns against Conservative Party, free speech, Trump & Labels the Red Ensign “Hate”

This report should be on front pages everywhere. The booklet, entitled Confronting and Preventing Hate in Canadian Schools, is said to be a tool against online hate, and is slated for government distribution all across Canada. It is a step toward turning publicly funded schools into Leftist indoctrination camps, with traditional values presented as “hate.” The booklet is a companion to the unprecedented Liberal Internet censorship bill which recently sparked a backlash.

Despite being presented as fighting “hate,” the new booklet instead fuels further hatred and division in Canada.

Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen was once Canada’s Immigration Minister; he sought to “massively ramp up” refugee intake, and that he did. He also sought to “lead the charge” on the UN’s global migration pact.

In addressing the “core values” that Hussen advocates teaching “our kids”: These are some highlights of the shocking 53-page propaganda booklet, created by the so-called “Anti-hate” network led by Bernie Farber, a member of the Trudeau government’s “expert” advisory group on online “safety.”

  • Freedom of expression is presented as a cover for “hate.”
  • Trump’s border wall to stop illegals is presented as “hate.”
  • Mainstream Conservative parties are singled out and presented as being “infiltrated” by bigots, “groypers,” and “white nationalists.” The inappropriate pamphlet actually states: “While the majority of Groypers are white, there are a growing number of youth of colour involved in the movement, as they engage in antisemitism, anti- feminism/misogyny, anti-2SLGBTQIA+, Islamophobia, and anti-Black racism.”
  • The book openly names people such as Lauren Southern and Faith Goldy.
  • It makes the claim: “In our work, some of the most extreme neo-Nazis have been teenage girls.”
  • It condemns a “specific Canadian flavour” of the “worldview”  that is “seen on many college campuses, often under the banner of “Canada First.” 
  • In a chapter on “hate promoting symbols,” the booklet names the Red Ensign flag as offensive, even though it was used as Canada’s national symbol until 1965.
  • Condemns concerns about terrorism and crime as “anti-immigrant.” 
  • References  Trump as a “problematic politician”and condemns his border wall as “racist.”
  • Warns and alerts about students who may inquire “why there aren’t any straight pride parades, or a white history month during class discussion.”
  • Without context, anti-police sentiment is taught as the pamphlet teaches that “Black residents are 20 times more likely to be shot by Toronto police than white counterparts.”
  • The booklet ironically utilizes intersectional tropes and stereotypes “people of colour,” stating that “shared beliefs in misogyny, anti-2SLGBTQIA+, Islamophobia, and anti-Blackness will often attract and unite people of colour to hate groups.”
  • It heavily promotes the Marxist, anti-nuclear family Black Lives Matter movement.

Parents need to take note of the violation of their children’s minds with Left/Marxist indoctrination. The material presented as “anti-hate” is the most divisive encroachment into the school system to date, singling out and stereotyping any thought that isn’t conducive to its radical agenda. The booklet is in step with Canada’s rapid descent into totalitarianism.

Government-funded school pamphlet calls Canada’s Red Ensign a “hate symbol”

Support Finnish Politician Jailed for Posting a Bible Verse!

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Support Finnish Politician Jailed for Posting a Bible Verse!

Sadly, in today’s culture, it is an ever growing trend for those not following the status quo to face persecution and in some cases, imprisonment.

The latest recipient of this kind of persecution is Finnish parlimentarian Päivi Räsänen who is facing jail for posting a Bible verse on her personal Twitter account.

Simply because Räsänen expressed her sincerely held beliefs publicly, the police launched an investigation and subjected her to a four-hour interview. Räsänen now faces a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment for the crime of so-called “ethnic agitation.”

Sign our petition demanding the The Finnish Prosecutor General drop the charges against Päivi Räsänen immediately.

It all began in June 2019 when the church board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland announced its official partnership with the LGBT event “Pride 2019”. Räsänen questioned her church’s leadership on this decision on social media, attaching an image of a Bible passage.

The prosecution has also dug up a secondary charge which finds fault with a pamphlet she wrote in 2004 “Male and female He created them – Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity”.

The third charge stems from Räsänen’s views on a Finnish Broadcasting Corporation radio station on the topic of “What would Jesus think about homosexuals?”.

Despite facing jail and ongoing persecution, Räsänen has shown indomitable strength:
“I cannot accept that voicing my religious beliefs could mean imprisonment. I do not consider myself guilty of threatening, slandering or insulting anyone. My statements were all based on the Bible’s teachings on marriage and sexuality,” she said.

“I will defend my right to confess my faith, so that no one else would be deprived of their right to freedom of religion and speech. I hold on to the view that my expressions are legal and they should not be censored. I will not back down from my views. I will not be intimidated into hiding my faith. The more Christians keep silent on controversial themes, the narrower the space for freedom of speech gets.“

Add your name: demand the three “hate speech” criminal charges against Finnish Member of Parliament, Päivi Räsänen be dropped immediately. Voicing one’s deeply held beliefs as found in the Bible should not lead to punishment including imprisonment.

This is critical. Not only is Mrs. Räsänen’s freedom at stake, but also yours and mine. The very definition of what it means to live in a free society is one in which the state should not be allowed to dictate what you can or cannot say and think.

And while you may not live in Finland and think you are safe in your homes in the Canada, the United States, or the United Kingdom, there are plenty of cases of Christians facing persecution right here in our own countries.

In Canada, we’ve seen provinces ban all pro-life expression around abortion clinics. We’ve seen school board trustees penalized for expressing biblical teachings about homosexuality. One might even remember that Jordan Peterson originally came to prominence due to his freedom of speech being suppressed. 

It is our duty to stop this persecution in its tracks.

Freedom of speech and Freedom of religion are a fundamental human right (as found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles 18 and 19, and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union article 11) and part of that includes the ability to express one’s sincerely held beliefs and not only that, but also practice them. In this case Räsänen is simply following Biblical teachings. She is not being malevolent, violent or malicious to those with disagreeing views. Her only “crime” has been expressing publicly a view which is not popular in our modern society. When you look at the underlying issue even deeper, it’s nothing more than effort to silence those who speak the truth.

Punishing individuals such as Räsänen sets a very dangerous precedence apart from the fact that it shuts down honest, open public dialogue. It effectively makes following Jesus a criminal act and expressing Biblical teachings, “hate speech” – all based purely off the arbitrary definition of what one can take “offence” to.

Sign our petition today stating that Christians like Päivi Räsänen should not be prosecuted for expressing her beliefs by tweeting a Bible verse.

Thanks for all you do,

James Schadenberg and the entire CitizenGO Team

O’Toole’s Gay Candidate Calls Cops & Has The Rebel’s Reporter David Menzies Arrested for Asking Questions

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Thornhill CPC candidate Melissa Lantsman has David Menzies arrested for asking prickly questions

https://www.rebelnews.com/thornhill_cpc_candidate_melissa_lantsman_has_david_menzies_arrested_for_asking_prickly_questions?utm_campaign=rb_7_27_21&utm_medium=email&utm_source=therebel

In politics, they call summer the silly season. Hardly anything of substance seems to happen, and the politicians are typically in their ridings having BBQs and whatnot.

Such was the case on Sunday in Thornhill, Ontario, just north of Toronto. The outgoing MP, Peter Kent, was having a summer shindig in the parking lot of the Promenade Mall. I dropped by not so much for Mr. Kent, but to interview the replacement candidate for the federal riding of Thornhill, Melissa Lantsman.

I assume most people don’t know who Melissa Lantsman is, but they should. She was Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s war room director in 2018 and helped create slogans like “For the People” and “Ontario: Open for Business.”

Alas, we all discovered that when the COVID pandemic hit last year, the Doug Ford PCs were not “for the people,” and Ontario was very much closed for business. Oh, not all businesses, mind you. If you were a U.S.-based multi-billion dollar conglomerate such as Costco or Walmart, it was business as usual.

And speaking of Walmart, by 2020, Lantsman had resumed duties as a lobbyist. And she lobbied mightily for the Arkansas-based superstore chain. Lantsman went to Premier Ford and successfully ensured Walmart would be exempt from any lockdown rules.

So now that Lantsman is the Conservative Party candidate for Thornhill in 2021, I wanted to ask her a simple question: how can she possibly run to be the MP to represent the people of Thornhill when she was personally responsible for engineering a lockdown policy that caused so many businesses to fold and so many people to be thrown out of work? I mean, her nickname is actually “Lockdown Lantsman.” How do you recover from that? And it was hard to believe this woman is a professional communicator, given how tongue-tied she got when it came to answering hard questions.

And then I wanted to know how she became the representative for the Thornhill riding in the first place. You see, a few months ago, Ontario PC MPP Gila Martow was vying for this position. Martow is a veteran politician who is well-liked and well-respected. I think she would’ve been a slam dunk to win the riding in the next federal election. When Lantsman was declared the winner, it was a shock to everyone — including Lantsman herself, who did not have a victory speech prepared! So, either those exit polls were mightily flawed or this was a screw job of Herculean proportions.

So, I reached out to members of the Martow camp, none of whom want to be named. Why would the Conservative party go with a candidate who has more baggage than the Arrivals terminal at Pearson International Airport?

And the answer was this: it had everything to do with Melissa Lantsman’s sexual orientation.

You see, the Erin O’Toole Conservatives are obsessed with the party being a so-called “Big Tent” operation – it’s not just a bunch of old white guys anymore, you see. They’re sick of the CBC calling them names.

And what better way to prove that point than to promote a LGBTQ candidate representing the Conservatives in the suburbs? Wow, look at that diversity!

Now, folks, I personally do not give a rodent’s rectum if a candidate is a lesbian or a Martian. I think it’s irrelevant. But Lantsman and the Conservatives can’t stop talking about her gayness — it was their main selling point. Is the Conservative Party now fully invested in identity politics and playing the race card and gender card and sexual orientation card? What about who is the best person for the job — no matter what

So, I asked Melissa: is she the candidate for Thornhill based on merit, or her sexual orientation? She sort of answered the question and didn’t object to it. I asked it again, and she ignored me. And that was that.

I had more questions about Walmart, but then I was interrupted — by police! The Lantsman campaign called the cops on me. But there is no crime of asking prickly questions, so they lied to the police, making accusations that I assaulted people. It was the other way around. They were purposely bumping into me and trying to block me. They knocked my hat off. They threw water on me. And for what? Asking questions

And how about this slice of unethical behaviour: while I was being arrested and handcuffed by police, one of them stole my clipboard notebook and took photos of my notes. What’s the deal with that? What kind of political party has a reporter arrested, and then steals their notebook and takes pictures of it?

It looked awful on the Conservatives — especially having me arrested. So after ten hours, they decided to revise history. They say I engaged in homophobic slurs against Lantsman? What? I did not — you can see my question and her answer to it. It wasn’t homophobic, and she obviously didn’t think it was at the time — until later, when her spin doctors needed a way to change the subject from having me arrested, throwing things at me and stealing my notebook.

My final question to Lantsman was this: when Erin O’Toole was running to be the Conservative leader, he was the pro-free speech/anti-cancel culture candidate. And then he becomes leader, and it turns out he is pro-cancel culture/anti-free speech. So I asked Melissa what’s the deal with that?

Could you imagine a real leader such as Donald Trump saying “no comment,” and even running away? Can you imagine a politician of substance calling the cops to have a reporter criminally charged? And that’s what Lockdown Lantsman did on Sunday — she or her minions called the cops. She later issued a press release saying it was a safety issue. A “safety issue” — yeah, my safety! I was pushed, shoved, splashed with a liquid and arrested.

And in the department of perverse irony, check out the tweet Mr. O’Toole issued around the same time I was being stuffed into a police cruiser based on lies from the Lantsman camp: “If you don’t support free speech, you have four parties to choose from. If you do, you only have one: Canada’s Conservatives.” Sorry, Mr. O’Toole. Sorry, Lockdown Lantsman. Actions speak louder than words. And just like Andrew Scheer, you are already blowing this election. Big time.

To the UN, Is Your Christian Faith A Human Rights Violation?

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To the UN, Is Your Christian Faith A Human Rights Violation?

Without question, we’re certainly in unique times. 2020 has brought us many challenges: the spread of COVID-19, unchecked government mandate and decree, churches closed for some time, riots and unrest on the streets, and the grossly unbalanced reporting by so-called “journalists” and media.But the scariest part of 2020 is unseen, happening behind closed doors.

The United Nations is coordinating an attack on religious freedom.This was exposed from a recent report taking to task traditional religious beliefs and values regarding the right to life for pre-born babies, and biological sex, by the United Nations appointed Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shaheed.

Sign the petition to demand Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger (President of the UN Human Rights Council) and Antonio Guterres (Secretary General of the United Nations( to dismiss Ahmed Shaheed: his agenda is incompatible with religious freedom!

Mr. Shaheed has chosen to pursue a controversial agenda that includes abortion and LGBT+ rights.His report calls religious beliefs valuing the right to life, traditional marriage, and biological sex a human right violation.
At a time when 80 percent of the global population is facing high restrictions on religious freedom, the UN is giving time – and a microphone – to a man working to undermine freedom of religion or belief even further.The United Nations is made up of 193 sovereign states. Some of which were founded or are rooted in religious faith. Most claim to respect the religious values of citizens.

This petition is our opportunity to send a signal to the 193 countries that make up the United Nations that bureaucrats are coordinating attacks on our faith and values.
Add your name: tell the UN to dismiss Mr. Shaheed and stop undermining your religious freedom by signing the petition!“The report shockingly conflates conservative religious beliefs about life, marriage, and biological sex with religious justifications for abhorrent human rights violations.Many women, as well as men, hold conservative religious beliefs, but the report treats their freedom to live according to these beliefs as secondary to abortion and new claims to rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity. No international treaty recognizes a right to abortion, but the report simply asserts that one exists and that it trumps a medical provider’s right to conscientious objection.Mr. Shaheed is recommending state intervention in matters of religious doctrine, curtailing rights of conscience, and accusing conservative religions and adherents of human rights abuse. Let that sink in for a minute…In other words, this rapporteur is telling the world that beliefs like yours have no place in polite company – let alone in the public square! The sad irony is Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed is injuring the very people and institutions and liberty which he is mandated to protect!Sign now! Mr. Shaheed secularist views and actions are not compatible with his appointed role as UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Demand his termination!Sincerely,Caleb Stephen and the team at CitizenGOP.S. Lend us your voice to make a difference! By signing this petition, an email will be sent to your behalf to notify your government representatives of this dangerous attack on religious freedom and national sovereignty.
Amplify your voice! After signing, take a moment to share this petition with your friends and family.References:U.N. report promotes abortion, LGBT ‘rights’ over human rights (The Washington Times)“https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/13/un-report-promotes-abortion-lgbt-rights-over-human/”UN Expert: World Religions Should Defer to the Authority of UN Experts (C-FAM)https://c-fam.org/friday_fax/un-expert-world-religions-should-defer-to-the-authority-of-un-experts/

One More Victim of Politically Correct Censorship: Heather Leung, Critical of the LGBTQ Agenda, Dropped by Tories After NDP Protest

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One More Victim of Politically Correct Censorship: Heather Leung, Critical of the LGBTQ Agenda, Dropped by Tories After NDP Protest

[Candidates for mainstream Canadian political parities must be cyphers, never having said anything critical of privileged groups like Moslems or the LGBTQ censorship crowd. A cowardly Andrew Scheer hopped to it and, when openly homosexual and convicted shoplifter NDPer Svend Robinson commanded, he meekly obeyed and dropped candidate Heather Leung who has some private views on homosexuality. She believes in conversion therapy, feels homosexuality is perverted [there’s backup for that in the Bible] and believes some homosexuals recruit children. Wouldn’t it be better to have candidates that actually believe in something rather than programmable parrots ready to squawk out whatever the party leader decides is the party line?]

Conservatives drop Burnaby North-Seymour candidate Heather Leung after homophobic comments

The party says it made the decision after learning about historical comments by Leung.

Harrison Mooney
Updated: October 4, 2019
Heather Leung, former Conservative candidate for Burnaby North—Seymour in the 2019 federal election. Handout / PNG

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The Conservative Party of Canada has dropped Heather Leung as their candidate in the Burnaby North—Seymour riding, after video interviews surfaced in which she made homophobic comments.

In a video that appears to be from 2016, Leung said conversion therapy provides hope to those living “the perverted homosexual lifestyle.”

In a 2011 “Heather Leung is no longer representing the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Burnaby North—Seymour,” the party said in a news release. “Recent media reports have brought to light offensive comments made by Ms. Leung saying ‘homosexuals recruit’ children, and describing the sexual orientation of the LGBTQ community as ‘perverted.’”

Leung has not responded to a request for comment.

Conservative spokesperson Rudy Hesny said the decision came after the party had time to review Leung’s comments.

“We said in our statement, they were obviously very offensive, and we couldn’t tolerate those kinds of comments,” he said. “It was just a question of reviewing all of it and, as media were also reporting different comments and things like this, we were able to get all the facts.
Burnaby, BC: OCTOBER 04, 2019 — NDP candidate Svend Robinson addresses the media Friday, October 4, 2019 at his constituency office in Burnaby, BC about homophobic remarks Conservative Party candidate Heather Leung has made in the past. Jason Payne / PNG

Hesny said the Conservatives intend to send a letter to Elections Canada informing the agency that Leung no longer represents the party, but that it may be too late to have her party affiliation removed from the ballots, which may have already been printed.

“Her name is going to still be on the ballot but the question is if they can remove her being a representative of our party,” he said. “I think this is something we have to discuss with Elections Canada.

Earlier on Friday, Robinson, the NDP candidate in the riding, challenged Scheer to denounce Leung, strip her of the candidacy and take away her party membership after the video interviews resurfaced earlier this week.

Robinson became Canada’s first openly gay MP in 1988, which resulted in death threats and the trashing of his constituency office. Through the 1980s and 1990s, he introduced at least five different private member’s bills aimed at amending Canadian laws to include same-sex marriage.

He said statements like Leung’s are hateful and hurtful, especially to vulnerable youth who are struggling with their identity.

Scheer’s decision Friday echoes that of his predecessor, Stephen Harper, who set the precedent during the 2015 election when he stripped membership from an Ontario candidate who called homosexuality “unnatural,” but it also serves to push back against critics who have called the Conservative leader anti-gay.

Scheer has refused during the campaign to say whether his views have changed since 2005 when he opposed same-sex marriage.

He has promised, however, to protect LGBTQ rights.

“There is no tolerance in the Conservative Party for those types of offensive comments,” the Conservatives said.

Hesny said that the party’s decision Friday reflected Scheer’s vision for Canada, laid out in a keynote speech delivered last May.

“I find the notion that one’s race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation would make anyone in any way superior or inferior to anybody else absolutely repugnant,” Scheer said then. “And if there’s anyone who disagrees with that, there’s the door. You are not welcome here.”

NDP MP TOO URGES BOYCOTT OF CHRISTIAN PASTOR’S ALL CANDIDATES’ MEETING

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NDP MP TOO URGES BOYCOTT OF CHRISTIAN PASTOR’S ALL CANDIDATES’ MEETINGI

[So wedded are the NDP to the fanatical LGBTQ agenda that Peter Julian, an NDP MP, seeks to sabotage an all candidates’ meetings hosted by a conservative Christian pastor. Perhaps, he fears that the pro-tranny, pro-LGBTQ, pro-sexually weird sex ed indoctrination in school (SOGI) NDP might do too well in an open debate.]

 

I’ve just received word of an all candidates debate tomorrow at the Justice Institute of British Columbia: JIBC organized by Pastor Paul Dirks. Paul Dirks is well known for opposing the rights of transgender members of our community and opposing SOGI which is a framework that makes our schools more inclusive.

This is my sixth federal election campaign and the first time I’ve refused to attend an all candidates meeting and I believe it’s important to communicate why. Knowing the history of the organizer, I refuse to provide a platform for hate. I stand with the LGBTQ2S+ community and I encourage my fellow candidates Megan Veck, Will Davis For MP, Suzanne de Montigny – New Westminster/Burnaby Greens, and Hansen Ginn – PPC New Westminster-Burnaby to likewise stand up against hate and refuse to attend this meeting. — Peter Julian

CAFE Protests Trudeau’s Poisonous Immigration Policy & Hamilton City Council’s Refusal to Hear Free Speech Delegations

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CAFE Protests Trudeau’s Poisonous Immigration Policy & Hamilton City Council’s Refusal to Hear Free Speech Delegations

 

 

Supporters of the Canadian Association for Free Expression & the Canadian Nationalist Party rallied outside Hamilton City Hall Today.

We were there to protests Trudeau’s demography wrecking open door immigration, his fanatical pushing of the LGBTQ agenda & Hamilton City Hall’s anti-free speech policies, including their refusal to hear a delegation by CAFE Director Paul Fromm on just such anti-free speech policies.

One elderly Christian lady had her signed ripped up.

Infamous white nationalist Paul Fromm wants to address city council on free speech

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Andrew Dreschel: Infamous white nationalist Paul Fromm wants to address city council on free speech 

‘I think his track record speaks for itself and it’s not welcome at city hall’

OPINION 02:46 PM by Andrew Dreschel  Hamilton Spectator

 

Paul Fromm

Paul Fromm, an avowed white nationalist and infamous far-right activist, is asking to publicly address councillors over his concerns their proposed hate prevention policies are limiting free speech. – Hand out

After a summer sizzling with hate issues, a new hot potato has landed in city council’s lap.

Paul Fromm, an avowed white nationalist and infamous far-right activist, is asking to publicly address councillors over his concerns their proposed hate prevention policies are limiting free speech.

Councillors will debate Wednesday whether to accept or reject Fromm’s delegation request.

They also have to decide whether to grant delegation status to Lisa Thompson, a member of the Hamilton yellow-vest group, which protests in front of city hall every Saturday.

Fromm, a Hamilton resident, says he was “shocked” by some of the hate prevention initiatives council floated earlier this summer in the wake of the Pride brawl at Gage Park and ongoing yellow-vest demonstrations.

“I don’t think it’s up to city council to play referee on various points of view,” Fromm said in an interview.

“I was shocked I was hearing this in Hamilton, not Havana.”

sto

Fromm’s request lands after months of controversy, which saw: fisticuffs at the Gage Park Pride celebrations between white nationalist/homophobic protesters and Pride supporters/anarchists; criticisms of police response to the clash; the swarming of Mayor Fred Eisenberger’s home by LGBTQ+ activists/anarchists; and a city hall investigation ending with the departure of city IT worker Marc Lemire, who was linked to a former white nationalist group.

Against that background, the dilemma Fromm presents councillors is plain as a red flag.

By allowing him to address the general issues committee, they’ll almost certainly be lambasted for giving a platform to his ultraright agenda. But by rejecting his request, they run the risk of being criticized for suppressing free speech.

The mayor is well aware of how tricky the situation is. After all, he spent a good part of the summer trying to build bridges with the LGBTQ+ community after being accused of responding indifferently to its concerns.

Eisenberger told The Spectator that denying Fromm the five minutes of speaking time allotted to delegates could become a “bigger issue” than having the committee chair simply police his comments to ensure he’s doesn’t say “hateful things.”

But in the end, Eisenberger stated the obvious: the request is open to consideration by council.

Coun. Jason Farr is also cautious. Recognizing council is walking a “fine line,” he expects a “healthy debate.”

For his part, Coun. Sam Merulla bluntly states he won’t support Fromm’s bid because he’s a known white nationalist. He believes council should refuse to listen to him.

“If he wants to appeal it, he has every right to. But I think his track record speaks for itself, and it’s something not welcome at city hall.”

Fromm, 70, is the director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression, which bills itself as a political group committed to free speech, immigration reform and “political sanity.”

In 2018, he ran for mayor of Hamilton, racking up 706 votes. In 2007, the Ontario College of Teachers took away his teaching license for unprofessional conduct outside the classroom because he participated in white supremacist events and held beliefs contrary to tolerance and multiculturalism.

He previously supported Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, who was deported back to Germany in 2005 after the courts judged him a security threat.

Fromm denies being a white supremacist but happily agrees he’s a white nationalist.

“As a white nationalist, I do not want to see the European founding/settler people of this country swamped, and that’s what’s happening with mass immigration over the last 40 years.”

Fromm says a lot of provocative things.

He says attempting to prevent hate speech is “like trying to prevent the wind.”

He says hate speech is a “term of abuse” that doesn’t apply until someone has been charged and convicted of it.

And he says if council won’t listen to his concerns, it’s a “sad comment on democracy” but indicative of a time when people are “terrified to open their mouths.”

Whatever council decides to do, the debate may be the torrid capper to this long, hot summer.

Andrew Dreschel’s commentary usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. adreschel@thespec.com @AndrewDreschel

905-526-3495

Andrew Dreschel’s commentary usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. adreschel@thespec.com @AndrewDreschel

905-526-3495

Recent articles by Andrew Dreschel

LGBTQ Rowdies Bite Pro-Gay Eisenberger in the Butt

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LGBTQ Rowdies Bite Pro-Gay Eisenberger in the Butt

 

It looks good on Eisenberger. Last summer he spent $25,000 of our money painting rainbow crosswalks to celebrate this tiny minority of the weird. Here’s their thanks. Had I been elected Mayor of Hamilton, NO MORE CATERING TO THE LGBTQ agenda.
https://torontosun.com/…/hamiltons-mayor-angered-by-rude-wa…. It wasn’t the peaceful Yellow Vest protests he’s trying to ban that invaded his neighbourhood.