March 3, 2000
Toronto printer Scott Brockie has been fined $5,000 by the Ontario Human Rights Commission for refusing to provide his services to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives on religious grounds. He refused his services because the work included printing the words "gay and lesbian." "In her ruling, commission adjudicator Heather MacNaughton found that Scott Brockie, owner of Imaging Excellence on King St. W., violated the rights of Ray Brillinger and the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives by refusing to print the group’s stationery, envelopes and business cards. She ordered the company to provide printing services to gays and lesbians and their organizations."
McNaughton said that there are reasonable limits to Brockie's right to practice his religious beliefs - which include the idea that homosexuality is detestable. He may practice them in his home or within his Christian community, but, left unchecked, actions such as Brockie’s will lead to what McNaughton described as "the spiral of silence where lesbians and gays modify their behaviour to avoid the impact of prejudice. "What (Brockie) is not free to do, when he enters the public marketplace and offers services to the public in Ontario, is to practise his beliefs in a manner that discriminates against lesbians and gays by denying them a service that is available to everybody else," McNaughton wrote."
"Brockie, a born-again Christian, said yesterday he wasn’t surprised by the commission’s ruling and would appeal it. He said he will continue to refuse to provide services to people or groups that promote gay and lesbian activities while he waits for his appeal to be heard."
Ray Brillinger, past-president of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, and current president Edward Tompkins were both pleased with the commission's ruling. "Both said the commission made it clear where it stood when religious rights were pitted against human rights. "It is a mark of an increasingly tolerant society," Tompkins said of the case, which was fought by lawyer Chris Bondy on behalf of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives."
Brockie made distinctions that allowed him to do printing work for other homosexual customers, such as Body Body Wear, which produces underwear for gay men, while denying service to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, McNaughton pointed out in her ruling. "Brockie said yesterday he had no problems with Body Body Wear because it was a commercial enterprise with the stated goal of making money, as opposed to the archives organization, which promotes education about gay and lesbian issues."
"Statistics released by the Ontario Human Rights Commission show that of the 1,850 complaints received by the commission in 1998-99, 60 complaints involved denial of service based on sexual orientation."
Excerpts in quotes are from the Toronto Star article entitled "Company
fined for refusing gay group's printing job" by Phinjo Gombu, Mar. 3rd, 2000,
page B2.