Why I Won’t Comply with All of Bill 30

AT A RECENT ORIENTATION for volunteers I was informed that I would have to comply with Bill 30, a piece of legislation passed and made effective as of June 1, 2018. The bill is intended to protect persons from violence and harassment, which, in itself, is a good idea. People should not be treated badly for their race, religious beliefs, colour, physical or mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status, gender, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. The fact that people are made in the image of God means that we ought to treat every person respectfully and kindly.

The problem arises when the description of harassing behaviours includes, “Deliberate misgendering (ie. Referring to a person using terms or pronouns that do not align with their affirmed gender.)” In other words, I am being told that my speech must affirm that a biological male is a female if a biological male wants me to do so. Or, I must affirm that there are more than two genders even if I believe that God created and affirmed only two genders.

This is wrong at many levels. If you want to hear solid non-religious reasons for opposing this ideology go to Youtube and type in Jordan Peterson or Ben Shapiro on gender identity. For faith reasons, however, I will not be compelled to acknowledge the lordship of the state rather than the lordship of Christ in my speech. If God created and affirmed two genders and tied them to biological factors my speech must not deny that. God’s design and plan is always for our best and we can expect nothing but harm to a society where his will is resisted. Bill 30 is nothing less than a state sponsored demand to recant my faith on this issue. It is done under the guise of being tolerant, accepting of others, and not being hateful, but sincere disagreement and expressing disagreement is not hatred. It is truth-seeking and the truth matters even when it offends me or others. We do not love others by denying the truth.

I don’t intend to look for a fight or to offend people unnecessarily. For example, if a male does not like to be referred to with a male pronoun I will simply try to use his name. But don’t demand I adopt your categories and don’t threaten me if I do not. That’s truly hateful.