A Bangor, Maine resident was arrested for disorderly conduct on Tuesday evening after he repeatedly called a man from San Francisco a gay slur, resulting in a fight at a Longhorn Steakhouse.oh noes, where is our free speech has gone?!@!??? I can't remember which side i is on!?
“He thought it was his right to say whatever he wanted,” said Sgt. Paul Edwards, saying he was barred from releasing exactly what Schmersal called the visiting man.
If convicted of the disorderly conduct charge, Schmersal could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
However, the Tribunal considered whether exercising freedom of expression could justify what would otherwise be discrimination under the Code. Based on Supreme Court of Canada authority, the Tribunal concluded that the Code's provisions are not ambiguous and do not need Charter values to interpret them.posted by en forme de poire at 8:11 AM on April 26, 2011
There were measures available to accomplish the purpose of ending any disruption of the show well short of attacking Ms. Pardy’s sex and sexual orientation.If he had asked them to be quiet, or engaged them without homophobic insults, he could have been fine. They might have been quiet, or finished their drinks and left, or heckled back. Who knows He didn't give them that option.
"I saw him come down off the stage," Pardy testified. "I put my hand on a glass of water because I knew he was coming to our table, and when he came to the table he put his hands on it and leaned over me. I threw water in his face and said, 'Don't come near our table.' Then he looked at me and screamed in my face 'Why do you have to be such a fucking cunt?"If this reading of events is true (and I grant that we can't really know, in part because the comedian has refused to participate in the hearing), this totally ceases to be about a comedian telling off-color jokes. Placed in the context of physical intimidation, his words take on a completely different valence from someone making a joke about dykes from the safe distance of the stage or screen.
..."Guy Earle came over to me again and said, 'Why'd you have to ruin the show, you fucking stupid dyke? You fucking bitch.' Then he stands over me right in front of me. I'm frozen. I cannot move at this point. Everyone's watching me, this is centre stage at this point. Guy Earle is standing over me and says, 'You want to be a fucking man don't you?' He reaches over and grabs the glasses off my head, breaks them right in front of my face, cutting his hand in the process and throws them on the floor. At this point I can't hear anything, my ears are ringing, my face is red."
In other words, only 9.3% of complaints were ever referred to a tribunal for a hearing: the rest were either rejected at the outset, dismissed along the way, or settled (often for an apology, or for a nuisance amount paid without any admission of any violation of the law).posted by juv3nal at 4:33 PM on April 27, 2011
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comediansdouchebags.Fixed &c.
posted by dersins at 11:20 PM on April 25, 2011 [4 favorites]