BC nurse faces loss of license over saying there are only two genders
VANCOUVER, BC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is providing legal representation for nurse Amy Hamm as disciplinary hearings with the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) continue on Monday, October 23, 2023. The next set of virtual hearings is open to the public via Webex using at this link. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. each day. Viewing does not require advance registration.
Amy Hamm involuntarily rose to prominence in September 2020 when she co-sponsored a billboard proclaiming “I [heart] JK Rowling” referring to famous British author JK Rowling. Ms. Rowling has been outspoken in her defence of women’s rights to female-only bathrooms, changerooms and other safe spaces where biological males may not enter. Ms. Rowling has been denounced as “transphobic” as part of a flood of social media abuse, some of it from high profile celebrities, making headlines around the globe.
Ms. Hamm was quoted in a CBC article about the billboard, saying, “Women’s rights are important and we need to stand up for them and it’s not transphobic to do so.” The sign was only up for 30 hours before the billboard company, Pattison Outdoor, covered it up and then took it down. By then, the sign had already been vandalized with paint. After complaints were made to the College, an Inquiry Committee launched an investigation in November 2020 and subsequently compiled a 332-page report, mostly composed of social media posts and statements by Ms. Hamm. Three years later, the hearings are far from concluded.
The next hearings are, as before, in front of a panel of British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives and will run for 10 non-consecutive days. Ms. Hamm has already spent a total of 11 days before the panel, split in three phases: three days in September 2022, four days in October 2022, and four days in January 2023.
The upcoming proceedings start each day at 10 AM Pacific Time. The link goes live 5 minutes before, at 9:55 AM PT, and remains active for the length of the proceedings. These are dates for the current round of hearings:
Oct. 23 to 25, 2023 (Mon Tues Wed)
Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, 2023 (Tues Wed Thur Fri)
Nov. 6 to 8, 2023 (Mon Tues Wed)
“This is an important case for the freedom of expression of regulated professionals across the country,” said Lisa Bildy, Amy Hamm’s legal counsel. “Ms. Hamm is accused of being discriminatory and derogatory toward transgender people in the course of her off-duty advocacy for women’s sex-based rights. Professional regulators are created by statute and are essentially an arm of the state, to which the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies. Nonetheless, many regulators are increasingly attempting to control what professionals are permitted to say or believe on the social and political issues of our time. This will put a chill on debate and discussion outside of only a narrow range of permissible views. An enforced consensus, where professionals who disagree keep silent for fear of losing their livelihoods, cannot be in the public interest. This is especially so in matters of science and public policy, where stifling debate prevents both science and democracy from functioning as intended.”
“The colleges of nurses, colleges of doctors, colleges of psychologists, law societies and other regulators need to stop policing speech and stop abusing their authority by forcing woke ideology on good people like Amy Hamm,” stated John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre.
