A transgender woman who ran as an NDP in the riding of Vancouver-False-Creek in 2017 has won her human rights case against hate speech.
At the time, Morgane Oger was the first trans-identified candidate to run for election in the provincial legislature.
During the lead up to the election, a well-known anti-LGBTQ activist, William Whatcott, produced and published pamphlets and made comments online attacking Oger on the basis of her gender identity.
Oger filed a complaint under the BC Human Rights Code, which prohibits publications that indicate discrimination or an intention to discriminate, or which expose a person or class of persons to hatred or contempt. She described Whatcott's pamphlets as harmful to her personally, and as exposing other trans people to discrimination, hatred, and contempt.
The BC Human Rights Tribunal found in favour of Oger, that Whatcott violated the Code and engaged in hate speech.