Focus on the Family admitted today that Canadian Bill C-250 has caused it to alter its Canadian antigay propaganda.
Bill C-250 added penalties to the Criminal Code of Canada for inciting hatred or encouraging genocide of people on the basis of sexual orientation, in addition to race, religion, ethnic origin, gender, color, and disability.
The law states that no one may be convicted if:
(a) if he establishes that the statements communicated were true;
(b) if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text;
(c) if the statements were relevant to any subject of public interest, the discussion of which was for the public benefit, and if on reasonable grounds he believed them to be true; or
(d) if, in good faith, he intended to point out, for the purpose of removal, matters producing or tending to produce feelings of hatred toward an identifiable group in Canada.
The key defense is (a): Speech may not be punished if it’s true.
And that has been a problem for Focus on the Family, which — its critics allege — has persistently relied in the United States upon sweeping, unfounded, and malicious falsehoods about the behavior and values of same-sex-attracted persons as a class.
Today, Focus communications operative Gary Booker told WorldNetDaily:
“In particular, our content producers are careful not to make generalized statements nor comments that may be perceived as ascribing malicious intent to a ‘group’ of people and are always careful to treat even those who might disagree with us with respect,” Gary Booker, director of global content creation for Focus, told WorldNetDaily.com.
“Occasionally, albeit very rarely, some content is identified that, while acceptable for airing in the U.S. would not be acceptable under Canadian law and is therefore edited or omitted in Canada.”
In the United States, the First Amendment to the Constitution has acted as a bar against similar legislation.
