Canadian Senate approves law that bans the use of wrong gender pronouns

The Canadian Senate has passed a legislation which critics say would make it illegal to use wrong gender pronouns.

Life Site News reported that the Senate approved Bill C-16, which adds "gender expression" and "gender identity" to Canada's Human Rights Code and to the Criminal Code's hate crime section, by a vote of 67–11 on Thursday.

Critics have warned that Canadians who refuse to accept progressive gender theory could be charged with hate crimes, jailed, fined and forced to undergo anti-bias training.

The bill, which was cleared by the Senate with no amendments, requires only royal assent in the House of Commons to be turned into law.

Dr. Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, spoke to the Senate prior to the vote, saying that the bill infringed upon citizens' freedom of speech and codifies what he views as dubious gender ideology into law.

"[Ideologues are] using unsuspecting and sometimes complicit members of the so-called transgender community to push their ideological vanguard forward," Peterson told the Senate in May, according to Daily Caller.

"The very idea that calling someone a term that they didn't choose causes them such irreparable harm that legal remedies should be sought [is] an indication of just how deeply the culture of victimization has sunk into our society," he added.

Lawyer D. Jared Brown warned that those who disavow gender theory can be brought before the Human Rights Commission and could potentially be found guilty of hate crimes.

According to Newsgram, the government will approve certain terms that citizens must use to address "non-binary" people in an effort to prevent discrimination based on gender identity.

Manitoba Senator Don Plett, who voted against the bill, unsuccessfully proposed an amendment to the bill to add: "For greater certainty, nothing in this Act requires the use of a particular word or expression that corresponds to the gender identity or expression of any person."

Plett was reportedly criticized heavily on Twitter immediately after news of the bill's passage broke.

After the vote, Peterson tweeted that Canadians will "seriously regret" the passage of Bill C-16.

"Senate passes Bill C16 without amendment 67 for 11 against. Compelled speech has come to Canada. We will seriously regret this," Peterson wrote.

The psychology professor became a preeminent critic of the bill after he produced three videos opposing the enforcement of gender ideology. In one of the videos, he denounced Bill C-16, saying it "requires compelled speech." He has previously vowed that he will never use "genderless pronouns" for those who identify as gender non-conforming when requested.