REGINA, February 10, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a ruling given virtually no media coverage, the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatchewan, ruled that a man who placed references to Bible verses on homosexuality into a newspaper ad was guilty of inciting hatred. The December 11, 2002 decision was in response to an appeal of a 2001 Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (HRC) ruling which ordered both the Saskatoon StarPhoenix newspaper and Hugh Owens of Regina to pay $1,500 to three homosexual activists for publishing an ad in the Saskatoon newspaper quoting bible verses regarding homosexuality.
The purpose of the ad was to indicate that the Bible says no to homosexual behaviour. The advertisement displayed references to four Bible passages: Romans 1, Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, on the left side. An equal sign (=) was situated in the middle, with a symbol on the right side. The symbol was comprised of two males holding hands with the universal symbol of a red circle with a diagonal bar superimposed over top.
Justice J. Barclay rejected the appeal ruling: “In my view, the Board was correct in concluding that the advertisement can objectively be seen as exposing homosexuals to hatred or ridicule. When the use of the circle and slash is combined with the passages of the Bible, it exposes homosexuals to detestation, vilification and disgrace. In other words, the Biblical passage (sic) which suggest that if a man lies with a man they must be put to death exposes homosexuals to hatred.” Janet Epp Buckingham, Legal Counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada told LifeSite that “The ruling that a verse from the Bible can be considered to expose homosexuals to hatred shows the danger for Scripture if Bill C-250 passes.” Bill, C-250, proposed by homosexual activist MP Svend Robinson would see “sexual orientation” added to hate crime law as a prohibited ground of discrimination. See the ruling online at: https://www.canlii.org/sk/cas/skqb/2002/2002skqb506.html HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS TRUMP RELIGIOUS RIGHTS PROVINCIAL RIGHTS COURT RULES https://www.lsn.ca/ldn/2001/june/010619.html For more information on Bill C-250 see: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/oct/02102801.html