Friday, March 25, 2016

On The Ghomeshi Verdict

Having read the Ghomeshi verdict, and having seen so much outrage online about it, it seems that a lot of people don't understand the process of our courts and what the verdict reflects.

The verdict is actually quite clear on what the problem is: The inconsistencies in the testimony and facts of the case were sufficient to cast doubt on the overall picture being drawn. The judge was very clear about this in his finding that the crown case had not met the "reasonable doubt" standard. The court didn't say that these incidents didn't happen, that isn't what a "not guilty" verdict means. The court basically said that the evidence was insufficient to hold the accused criminally responsible, which is quite a different statement.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Why You Should Ignore The American College of Paediatricians

The latest tactic in the far right fight against Transgender rights and equality is to cite various declarations from the American College of Paediatricians (ACP).  At first glance, this sounds like a reasonable source to cite.

Except it isn't.  ACP is a splinter group that was formed in protest when the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) decided to issue a position statement in favour of allowing gay couples to adopt children.  A few minutes poking around their website turns up links to sites advocating for "reparative therapy", and (unsurprisingly) to NARTH (I've written about this lot before ... a lot ... and none of it is good news).

Collective Punishment

Ever since Pierre Poilievre opened his mouth and declared that Trans Women need to be banned from washrooms and locker rooms , there's b...