Thursday, April 10, 2008

In The News


This just in from Reuters News

A Vancouver, B.C. man who claims he was discriminated against as someone who practises a form of sadomasochism will take his complaint to a human rights tribunal.

An appeal court rejected a bid by police to block a hearing on whether the man's rights were violated when an officer refused to grant him a permit for a chauffeur's licence. He complained to the tribunal that he was discriminated against, partly because he practises a "BDSM lifestyle" - bondage, discipline, submission, sadism and masochism.

Police argued laws to protect sexual orientation did not extend to types of sexual practices.

What do you think?

8 comments:

Karl Friedrich Gauss said...

Clearly this is the new frontier. Sexual orientation is clearly about preference of sexual practices. But no doubt this is about something being beyond someone else's comfort zone. My guess is that the main challenge in getting acceptance of BDSM and spanking in the mainstream is that it reveals the undercurrents of dominance and submission on which society has always been built. And the problem is that many people would like to pretend otherwise and would like to pretend that these kind of interpersonal dynamics do not potentially have a sexual dimension.

Michael said...

Live and let live. I wonder what the police listed as the 'official' reason for denyng the license. Did they think he would handcuff and spank his passengers. Hey, that could be a new lucrartive business model - mobile spankings. I would need a partner do the driving, though, while I handled the spanking.

Michael

Anonymous said...

My first thought was "How did they deny his license based on that?" Then I thought "It's none of their damn business what he does in the bedroom."
I would have to agree with Karl, though. After all, despite the push for equal rights, our society is based on one group being dominant over any and all others.
(ok, I need to stop commenting right after getting home from class :P )

Paul said...

Hermione, I agree with Dragonmage.
What consenting adults do in their home is no business of any arm of government.
In the guise of protecting us they are stifling us.
Warm hugs,
Paul.

Anonymous said...

Interesting news report. I couldn't help but notice that it's from Vancouver, BC which is where I live. :)
BIG HUGS
padme amidala

david said...

What I do with my wife in our bedroom is no ones business.

*hugs and grins*

Hermione said...

There really has to be more to it than the news item reveals. How do they know what he does in his bedroom unless he has been blatantly public about it? Maybe you could be refused a high-security type job that requires an extensive background check, but a chauffeur's permit? Who was he going to be chauffeuring? The Premier?

Very scary, indeed.

Padme, maybe you'll have access to more details on your local news network.

Hugs,
Hermione

Anonymous said...

There was a story in the UK news recently (a few months ago) about a couple who were not allowed on public transport because he was walking her on a leash. The bus driver called them "freaks".

I don't understand why anyone would judge the sexual preferences of others. There are some (not many, but some) things I would never do sexually...but I sure as hell wouldn't expect other people to stop doing them!

~elle~