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STEVE PAIKIN: What's in a name? Potentially, a great deal.
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University of Toronto psychology
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professor, Jordan Peterson, has a fight on
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his hands after objecting to proposed
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legislation that he says would violate
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his freedom of speech by forcing him to
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address transgendered people using the
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pronouns of their choosing. Joining us
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now to better understand the issue and
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debate what's at stake: in Vancouver, British Columbia,
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Theryn Meyer, transgender pundit and
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YouTuber. In the nation's capital,
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Kyle Kirkup, professor of law at the
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University of Ottawa. And here in studio,
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the aforementioned Jordan Peterson,
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professor of psychology, University of Toronto.
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Nicholas Matte, lecturer,
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transgender studies at U of T.
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And Mary Rogan, whose article entitled,
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"Growing Up Trans" is featured in the October issue
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of the Walrus magazine. Good to have you
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three here and our two friends in
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points beyond. We appreciate everybody
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being on the program for what is, I think,
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one of the hottest topics in the country
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today, Professor Peterson – and it's all
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because of you. And I think before we go
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any further with our conversation here,
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I want to give people a sense of how hot
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this has got starting on the downtown
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campus of the University of Toronto.
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Sheldon if you would, roll it.
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[audience members chanting] JORDAN PETERSON: Okay.
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JORDAN: Well as you can see, the opponents of
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free speech are capable of making a lot of
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inarticulate noise. Free speech is the
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mechanism by which we keep our society functioning.
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: Hear, hear.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: And by doing this, you're imposing –
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Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait!
No! No! No! Not cool. Not cool.
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: I'm going to post this online –
JORDAN: That's fine.
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: – that you would
like people to not – to be more
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accommodating of trans people and people
of color at your events in the future.
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JORDAN: I would like there to be no violence.
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: I am a person of color.
I am a person of color and I felt very accommodated here.
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: There have been multiple
reported instances of trans people
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killing themselves because
they are not being integrated into society.
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: If it wasn't for this law,
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and I asked you to refer to me with
they/them pronouns, would you?
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: Why do you have
the authority to determine
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whether or not an individual is worthy
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of you using their pronouns? Like, if I
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asked you, "Would you please use they/them
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pronouns for me?" what –
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JORDAN: It would it would depend on
what I thought of your motivation.
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: What hoops
do you want us to jump through?
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AUDIENCE MEMBER: Those are my pronouns.
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STEVE: Okay, with indulgence
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of everybody else on the program,
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I'm going to start with Professor Peterson off
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the top here for a while because, as I
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suggested, you thought long and hard
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about this. You posted a few things up to
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YouTube because you had been thinking
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long and hard about it. One-and-a-half
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million hits later, Jordan – one and a half
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million hits later – this has become a
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huge issue. So let's start there. Why did
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you post those views to YouTube in the first place?
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JORDAN: Well, there's proximate and distal reasons.
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The proximate reasons were
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because I received some correspondence
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from clients of mine who had
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been, I would say, persecuted in a variety
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of ways by people who were politically correct.
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And they sent me some
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documentation about Bill C16 and the
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associated policy statements on the
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Ontario Human Rights Commission, which I
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read and was not very happy about.
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And also because the University of Toronto
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decided to make anti-racism and
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anti-bias training – so-called anti-racism and
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anti-bias training – mandatory, which I
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regarded as an inappropriate incursion into the domain of political
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opinion by the university administration.
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STEVE: Have you taken that training yet? JORDAN: No, and
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I don't have to yet. It's the HR
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department personnel that have to take it.
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STEVE: If they decide that you have to, will you?
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JORDAN: No way. Not a chance.
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STEVE: Okay. And what's the other – You referred to
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persecution that friends or clients of
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yours had experienced. Such as?
JORDAN: Yeah, yeah. Well
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there are lots of places now where the
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workplace has become, I would say,
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excessively politicized. And so, people
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who have viewpoints – And this also
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involves – includes, I would say, fairly
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radical leftist viewpoints. People don't
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feel comfortable at all in being
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able to use the language of their choice
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or to have even opinions about a variety
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of different things. And so I've had
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three clients who, I would say, have been
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we'll say "harassed," I suppose, is the right
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way of putting it.
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STEVE: In social media or otherwise?
JORDAN: No, at work. At work.
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STEVE: At work.
JORDAN: At work by people who
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don't like their political opinions essentially.
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STEVE: And the opinions were what?
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JORDAN: Well, I can't tell you too much about it,
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actually, because of issues –
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fundamental issues of confidentiality.
STEVE: All right. Give us –
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Essentially, I guess what I'm asking is
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to lay the case out. JORDAN: Well, one of –
STEVE: What is it
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you find offensive about this legislation?
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JORDAN: Well, fundamentally, there
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were two things that really bothered me,
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although there have been other things
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I've thought about since. One was that I
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was being asked, as everyone is, to use a
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certain set of words that I think are
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the constructions of people who have a
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political ideology that I don't believe
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in and that I also regard as dangerous.
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STEVE: What are those words?
JORDAN: Those are
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the made-up words that
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people now describe as gender-neutral.
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And so, to me, they're
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an attempt to control language
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and in a direction that isn't happening organically,
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it's not happening naturally,
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people aren't picking up these words in
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the typical way that new words are
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picked up, but by force and by fiat.
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And I would say by force because there's
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legislative power behind them.
STEVE: So just so we're [clear] –
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JORDAN: And I don't like these made-up words
– ze, and zer and that
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sort of thing.
STEVE: Okay. What about the – They're not
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all made up – quote-unquote made-up words.
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JORDAN: Yeah.
STEVE: For example, "they" is one of them –
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to speak to an individual as they.
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JORDAN: Yes, right. But we can't dispense with
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the distinction between singular and plural.
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I mean, I know that the advocates of that
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particular approach say that "they" has
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been used forever as a singular, and
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that's actually not correct. It's used as
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a singular in very exceptional
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circumstances. Like, "If your child wishes
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to bring a book to school, they're
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welcome to do so." But "they" –
STEVE: That's just
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grammatically incorrect.
JORDAN: Well, it is also. There's some
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debate about that because it is – "they" is
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used like that sometimes. But it's never
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been used as a singular replacement
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for he or she. STEVE: All right.
JORDAN: And so it's not a
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tenable solution. And that's the best of
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the solutions.
STEVE: So, we understand your
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views and where you're coming from.
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You've decided to lay these views out in
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some YouTube discourses. JORDAN: Yes.
STEVE: You put them up.
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The response has been overwhelming.
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JORDAN: Yes.
STEVE: Did you anticipate that you would get
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this kind of feedback?
JORDAN: No, there was no
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way of anticipating this. And I think – You
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mentioned in the intro that
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this is a consequence of what I've done.
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And I don't think that's true. It's a
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consequence of the fact – I thought
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about it, and I think the right metaphor
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is that there's a large forest,
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and it's been a hot, dry summer, or maybe
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a drought, and there's plenty of dead
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wood gathered, and I lit a spark. And you
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can't blame the forest fire on the spark.
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It's just not possible for
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someone to put up a YouTube video and
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cause this kind of brouhaha without all
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of the groundwork already being laid.
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STEVE: Fair enough. There is clearly –
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There is out there an appetite
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against political correctness, which is
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what you have described this as. In fact,
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your YouTube video is called
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"Professor Against Political Correctness."
JORDAN: Mm-hmm. STEVE: But let's
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make sure we're all speaking the same
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language here. You would define that how?
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Political correctness?
JORDAN: Well, I think it's
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a particular kind of ideological game. And I
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think the outcome is twofold.
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It's to make the player feel morally superior,
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and also to take rather serious ax swings
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at the foundation of society.
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And so, the game is identify a domain of
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human endeavor, note that there's a
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distribution of success – some people are
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doing comparatively better and some
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people are doing comparatively worse –
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define those doing worse as victims,
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define those doing better as
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perpetrators, identify with the victims,
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have yourself a set of enemies handy to
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vent your resentment on, feel good about
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it even though it didn't really require
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any work on your part, and then endlessly repeat.
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And that's why – I've seen that happening
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on campuses, in particular, for the last 30 years.
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STEVE: In your YouTube talk, you
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describe those who oppose you on this
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issue as "resentful and uninformed."
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JORDAN: Yes.
STEVE: Tell me why you think that's accurate.
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JORDAN: Well, I worked for the NDP when
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I was a kid –
STEVE: Okay. JORDAN: From the time I
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was 14 to the time I was 18.
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I worked with Rachel Notley's father and her mother,
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and knew them very well. And I
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actually found them very admirable
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people, as well as the other people
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on the socialist end of the
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distribution who were genuinely working
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for the rights of working-class
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people – coming out of that Saskatchewan
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tradition that established health care
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and pension and all of that. But I noted,
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at the same time, that the party
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functionaries, let's say, weren't that
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sort of person at all. They didn't really
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like the working class. They weren't
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standing up for them. And I couldn't
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quite put my finger on it until I read
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George Orwell's "Road to Wigan Pier,"
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which is a brilliant book and which was
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written for the Left Book Club in the UK.
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And he was talking about the failures of
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socialism in the United Kingdom,
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and then discussed intellectual
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socialists of the type who didn't
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exactly like the poor – STEVE: Okay.
JORDAN: They just hated the rich.
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STEVE: "Resentful and uninformed," though?
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JORDAN: Yes. Well, the resentful part is the
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willingness to pull down any structure
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that's hierarchical because of
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resentment about not being on the top.
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And uninformed is, well, it's the
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consistent attempt to force every
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political issue into a single –
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into the domain encompassed and viewed
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through this single lens.
STEVE: Jordan, let's do
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one more question here, and then we'll
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get everybody else into the conversation.
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You know, of course, that since this story broke,
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you've been called a lot of things –
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JORDAN: Yep. STEVE: – one of which is a "transphobe."
JORDAN: Yeah.
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STEVE: Some people have accused you of using
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the free-speech issue to mask what's
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really going on here, which is an attempt
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to deprive other people of what they
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believe are their legitimate rights.
JORDAN: Well, I can –
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STEVE: And I want to give you the opportunity to speak
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to whether or not you are a transphobe.
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JORDAN: Well, I can tell you that
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I've received more letters from
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transsexual people supporting me than
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opposing me. And I never said anything,
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really, about transsexual people,
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about their existence, although that was the
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first thing that I was accused of doing.
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I didn't say that transsexual people
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didn't exist. I said that gender identity, gender expression,
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and biological sex do not vary
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independently, which they don't. And so,
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this issue is, in some sense,
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only peripherally about about transsexual issues.
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It's more essentially about
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gender issues. And, then on top of that –
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and I think it's the biggest issue –
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is that it's a free speech issue. So –
STEVE: Okay.
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Let us continue to explore all of those
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issues that you have just raised and –
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Why don't we do this? Let's take a moment.
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We're gonna explain a few basic things here.
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The issue of so-called
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non-traditional pronouns goes together
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with non-traditional gender identities.
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New York City, for example, recognizes 31
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such gender expressions. In other words,
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besides "man" and "woman," there are 29 other
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gender expressions. For example, "pangender,"
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"queer gender," "gender fluid," "crossdresser,"
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"bi-gendered," "gender blender," and the list goes on.
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And Nicholas, this is where I
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want to bring you into the discussion
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because you teach this. You teach trans studies.
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So, if you would, give us a brief
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primer on so many gender identities that,
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in your view, require non-traditional pronouns.
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NICHOLAS MATTE: Basically, it's not correct that
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there is such a thing as biological sex.
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And I'm a historian of medicine.
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I can unpack that for you at great length if
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you want. But in the interest of time,
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I won't. So that's a very popular misconception.
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So, essentially, in my
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transgender studies classes, what we're
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doing is looking at actual research and
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identifying ways that current social
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issues related to trans people or things
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that are associated with trans, such as
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free-speech arguments and claims,
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how that connects to the way that people are thinking,
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the way that research has been
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framed, the histories have been framed.
STEVE: Give us some of
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the other pronouns that one would hear – typically.
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NICHOLAS: I don't focus on pronouns
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because pronouns are actually part of
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a cisnormative culture. So what we do is learn about –
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STEVE: I'm gonna stop you right there.
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NICHOLAS: Yes, I was just about to explain.
STEVE: Good.
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NICHOLAS: So, we don't start from a cisnormative
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perspective because that can't actually
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go very far. STEVE: What does cisnormative mean?
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NICHOLAS: So, I'm gonna start us there.
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Cisnormative is basically the very popular idea and
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assumption that most people probably have –
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and definitely that our structures convey –
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that there is such a thing as
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male and female, that they connect to
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being a girl or a boy or a man or a woman,
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and then sometimes that will also
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recognize intersex or trans people or
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transsexual people, as you mentioned,
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because that's – It's sometimes also referred
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to as a gender binary. So, anything that
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fits within a gender binary can work
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within cisnormativity.
STEVE: Okay.
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NICHOLAS: But cisnormativity is basically that everyone
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assumes that there is male and female,
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and so very little is actually looked at
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to understand what's actually the case.
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And scientists have been doing
this for at least over 50 years.
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STEVE: Because your view would be
it's much more complicated than that.
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NICHOLAS: Right. It's not my view,
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I just know that, for over 50 years,
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scientists have shown that that's not true.
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And yet, our social systems haven't
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been able to find a way to address
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the level of complexity that people actually experience.
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JORDAN: At what point can I step in, Steve?
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STEVE: Stand by for a second –
JORDAN: Okay.
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STEVE: – because I want to let everybody else
get in first, and then we'll get you in.
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NICHOLAS: And I didn't interrupt you either, so –
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STEVE: Mary, how prevalent
is transgenderism in our world?
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MARY ROGAN: I don't think I can –
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I don't think I can answer that question.
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I think that I would agree with Nicolas that
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there is some discrepancy on these
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numbers and there is some variance on
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the numbers. I guess I'm curious
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as to why we need need to put a
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number on this. Because that's come up.
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I listened to Jordan's video,
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and that was something that was mentioned.
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This is, statistically –
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there are so few intersex people as to be –
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it's insignificant.
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STEVE: Well, I think there's
a reasonable curiosity
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as to whether or not
we're talking about half the population
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or less than 1% of the population. That's all.
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MARY: No, I understand that. I guess what I'm
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saying is it seems that there's a focus
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on that in terms of what we know now.
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And I think what Nicholas is trying to try
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to say – and I don't want to
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presume too much – I think that
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that number is going to be something that
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evolves as we evolve and our language
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evolves and we give people the room to
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come forward and express who they are.
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STEVE: Okay. Let me – As part of that expression
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and evolution of this issue, the use of
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non-traditional pronouns, where are you on that?
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MARY: I think
people should be able to
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say how they want to be addressed.
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I do believe that. In my own experience in
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writing the Walrus piece,
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I began at one place and ended at another.
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And I'll let everyone pay their $7 to find out how.
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STEVE: [chuckles]
MARY: They can buy the magazine.
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But I think that, for me,
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identifying as male at a very late
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stage in my life, I don't have –
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I didn't have a lot of attachment to the pronoun "she."
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You could have said "giraffe."
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I had found a way at a very early age not to
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even hear that word. It meant nothing to me.
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So I didn't dive into the pronoun "he."
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STEVE: So, if I were going to refer to you,
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though, in the third person – MARY: "They."
STEVE: – you would want me to call you "they."
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MARY: Yes.
STEVE: Okay. Because that encapsulates what?
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MARY: I think it reflects where I am right now.
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Because of my lived experience –
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five decades as being identified –
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certainly by the world – as female –
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some of the time, not all
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of the time – my lived experience was
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largely female, and I personally am not
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sort of ready to jump in wholly into
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having people call me "he."
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But I'm certainly far enough along
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in terms of how I feel internally
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that I don't want to be called "she."
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STEVE: Understood. Let's go to British Columbia.
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Theryn, I want you to help us understand
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for our viewers who don't know you
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and don't know your work,
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I would like you to describe yourself.
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THERYN: Well, I make political commentary –
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mostly on YouTube.
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And I mostly focus on basically countering –
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with my own personal perspectives –
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countering what I consider to be
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the kind of hegemony surrounding –
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the political hegemony – surrounding trans politics,
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and what I consider to be
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quite ridiculous opinions and demands
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coming from what has come to be known as
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kind of the political trans lobbying.
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STEVE: I'm not as good at this issue
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as I should be, so I'm going to look to you
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to help me use the right words here
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to describe how you were born
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and what you see yourself as now.
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So is it accurate to say you're a trans woman?
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THERYN: Yes I'm, I'm – Oh [frustration].
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I wish I would have lived in a world
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where that was just obvious
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and I don't have to explain that to people.
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But, apparently, I do.
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I mean, "Yes, I'm just a woman."
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STEVE: Is this to say
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you were born male but now are female?
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THERYN: Yes. I transitioned
from male to female. And, yeah.
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STEVE: In which case, do I refer to you –
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I'm gonna ask you the same question
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I asked Mary, which is
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do I refer to you as her or she now?
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THERYN: Yes, you do.
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STEVE: I do. Okay.
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And how do you relate to the experiences
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that we have heard arise during this
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debate where gender identities and
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pronouns are up for grabs, if you like?
-
I am very skeptical of the ideology
-
surrounding gender identity.
-
I don't believe there are
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29-plus gender identities or genders.
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I believe there's male and female and
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then there's somewhere in between and
-
most people fall along that. And just people
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who are in-between does not constitute a new gender.
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There are two genders – period.
-
And that is, biologically, a sound argument to make.
-
Just because the argument that was made
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earlier in the show is that –
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It wasn't an argument, but a claim –
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that there is no such thing as biological sex.
-
Well, that's simply not true.
-
It is true that there are
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multiple characteristics and there are
-
multiple factors that go into determining sex,
-
and that sex is not on-off switch –
-
that there is a spectrum to it,
-
just like with most things in nature.
-
Most things aren't an on-off switch.
-
Most things develop on a spectrum.
-
But for the most part,
-
the vast majority of people fall
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either on the male side or on the female side.
-
And yes, it's true that scientists –
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that doctors have – and researchers – have been
-
finding more and more factors that go into,
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not only determining genetic sex,
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but determining the expression of those genes.
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So it's truly a fascinating, complex field of study.
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But that does not mean that there is
-
no such thing as biological sex.
STEVE: Okay.
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THERYN: When it comes to the issue of pronouns,
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would you like me to give you my opinion on it?
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STEVE: Yeah, briefly if you would because
-
Kyle has been the most patient person in
-
the world waiting for his chance to get in.
-
So, yes, you finish your statement and
-
then I'm gonna get to Kyle.
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THERYN: Okay. My apologies.
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Well, firstly, I have a lot of sympathy
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for people who want to be referred to
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by their pronouns. Obviously, as a trans woman,
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I know what it feels like to be
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misgendered and whatnot.
-
And most people are reasonable in the sense that
-
they would be reasonable enough
-
to accommodate trans people and
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their preferred pronouns.
-
And I'm sure – I mean, I would hope that
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if I were a student of Dr. Peterson,
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that he would refer to me as "she"
-
and wouldn't have a problem with that.
-
But at the end of the day,
-
our personal-pronoun preference, it still is a preference
-
for what language other people use.
-
And at the end of the day, I don't have
-
ultimate control over what Dr. Peterson –
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what the language he chooses to use or
-
anybody else for that matter.
-
That's up to them. And the problem arises –
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STEVE: Okay. Let me find out then.
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Let me find out. If she were
a student of yours, what would you call her?
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JORDAN: "She."
STEVE: You would. Okay.
-
We've established that. Theryn, stand by
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for a second now. I do want – [chuckles]
-
Thank you for your patience, Professor Kirkup.
-
And I want to bring you in now because,
-
as I suggested earlier, in New York City,
-
they have identified 31 gender identities.
-
And apparently the law down
-
there suggests that if businesses don't
-
accommodate an individual's chosen
-
gender identity, there is the risk of
-
a six-figure fine under the rules
-
of the city's Commissioner of Human Rights.
-
We have, in the province of Ontario
-
our own Ontario Human Rights Commission,
-
and I wonder how similar our
-
legislation is here on this issue
-
compared to what they have in New York City.
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KYLE: So, where I would start the discussion
-
is to actually point out that
-
even though we're talking about adding
-
gender identity and gender expression to
-
the Canadian Human Rights Act and
-
provisions of the Criminal Code
-
this is a long-standing practice in Canadian
-
human-rights jurisprudence. You can go
-
back into the late 1990s. And the cases
-
that we're seeing in the tribunals are
-
not the kind of extreme examples of
-
a number of different kinds of gender pronouns.
-
What we're seeing is really
-
more basic human rights questions.
-
So, questions like are you required
-
to undergo surgery in order to have
-
an identity document that properly captures
-
who you are as a person?
-
Discrimination in policing contexts,
-
discrimination in the workplace.
-
And so, I think the pronoun issue
-
is really a red herring.
-
When you look through the jurisprudence
-
dating back to the 1990s,
-
we're seeing much more fundamental questions –
-
really basic human rights questions –
-
that are coming before the tribunals.
-
And having reviewed the case law,
-
I'm not seeing the kind of New York scenario
-
that you're proposing at all.
-
STEVE: Well, let me read some of
-
the Ontario Human Rights Code to you
-
and then I'll get your feedback on that.
-
"Discrimination," the Human Rights Code
-
says, "happens when a person experiences
-
negative treatment or impact, intentional or not,
-
because of their gender identity
-
or gender expression. It can be direct
-
and obvious or subtle and hidden,
-
but harmful just the same. It can also happen
-
on a bigger systemic level such as
-
organizational rules or policies that
-
look neutral but end up excluding trans people. ...
-
Organizations are liable for any
-
discrimination and harassment that happens.
-
They are also liable for not
-
accommodating a trans person's needs
-
unless it would cause undue hardship."
-
And again, Kyle, I'll get you to follow up on
-
that inasmuch as if a trans person or
-
somebody whose gender identity was more,
-
shall we say, complicated than the male/female
-
that we've been talking about so far,
-
and the pronoun used to describe
-
that person were not traditional,
-
would the person have a case
-
before the Human Rights Commission?
-
KYLE: So, we haven't seen
-
cases on that at this point. But I would
-
say absolutely as a rule of –
-
as a general rule that you should be thinking
-
about in terms of employment settings,
-
absolutely, respecting trans persons'
-
pronoun choice is really fundamental.
-
And I can also say that in lots of circumstances,
-
a pronoun may not even be required.
-
There are lots of creative ways to avoid using
-
gender pronouns at all. And so, I think that –
-
But when you actually look at
-
the cases that are coming before tribunals,
-
we're not seeing that to be, really,
-
the primary issue. It's much more
-
basic human rights questions,
-
which is what the federal legislation here,
-
Bill C16, tries to accomplish.
-
STEVE: All right. I think we've set the table now.
-
You want to get in on this now, I can tell.
-
You've heard what the professor has to say.
-
What's your response?
-
JORDAN: Well, I don't understand
-
what the claim that
-
there's no such thing as biological sex means.
-
And I certainly think it's – let's call it
-
an error – to suggest that there's some
-
sort of scientific consensus about that.
-
I mean, there's biological differences
-
between males and females
-
in animals and human beings
-
at every level of analysis from the –
-
STEVE: Okay. I'm jumping in here.
JORDAN: Yeah.
-
STEVE: Because what about the notion
-
he put forward at the end there
-
that if you do not refer to people
-
with the pronoun that they prefer to be
-
referred to, that is a form, according to
-
the Human Rights Commission, of discrimination?
-
JORDAN: It's not just a form of discrimination,
-
it's a form of hate speech.
-
That's why I made the video.
-
I said that we were in danger of placing
-
the refusal to use certain kinds of language
-
into the same category as Holocaust denial,
-
and suggested that maybe
-
that wasn't such a good idea –
-
especially since there's plenty of debate
-
to be had about gender issues in our society,
-
which I also think are also
-
in danger of becoming illegal, and quite rapidly.
-
So, it isn't clear to me how long
-
we'll be able to have the talk
-
that we're having right now.
STEVE: Here are some –
-
KYLE: Can I jump in there –
-
Can I jump in there on –
STEVE: Please.
-
KYLE: I think it's a common misconception
-
about Bill C16 that it's somehow going
-
to make pronoun use into hate speech.
-
If you actually look at the provisions,
-
we're talking about very minor amendments
-
to the criminal code.
-
For example, Section –
JORDAN: They're not minor.
-
They put it into the hate-speech category.
They're not minor at all.
-
That's a misstatement.
THERYN: I actually agree with you on that point.
-
JORDAN: So don't tell me they're minor.
THERYN: I think there's a lot of opportunity here –
-
JORDAN: That's not – that's not right.
THERYN: There's a lot of opportunity opening.
-
KYLE: So Section –
STEVE: Kyle, go ahead.
-
KYLE: So, Section 318 – Pardon me.
-
So, Section 318 sets out
a series of identifiable groups,
-
and we're talking about the clearest of cases –
-
the cases of advocating genocide.
-
And we have a series of groups
-
that are already identified in the code.
-
And all this does is add gender identity and
-
gender expression to the categories
-
that are already identified. And so, I think we
-
really have to add some reasonableness
-
to this discussion, actually clearly
-
articulate what the provision does.
-
STEVE: Well, let me be a little clearer about what
-
some of the problems – what you might be
-
asking for if you want to do this.
-
For example, and Sheldon, bottom of Page 3 here,
-
let's put this graphic up.
-
"[P]ronoun misuse may become actionable
-
through the Human Rights Tribunals and the courts.
-
And the remedies? Monetary damages,
-
non-financial remedies, (for example,
-
ceasing the discriminatory practice or
-
reinstatement to the job), and public interest
-
remedies (for example, changing
-
hiring practices or developing
-
non-discriminatory policies and procedures).
-
Jail time is not one of them."
-
Jordan, you're not going to go to jail if
-
you keep this up. Do you find that reassuring?
-
JORDAN: What if I don't pay the fine?
-
STEVE: Then what?
JORDAN: Then what? And let's talk about
-
the legalities for a minute. As you know,
-
the University of Toronto sent me
-
two warning letters – right? – and the second one
-
basically asked me to stop talking about this.
-
STEVE: Who sent the letters?
JORDAN: The first –
-
It's the administration, fundamentally,
-
the higher up people in the administration.
-
The last one was the Dean of the Faculty
-
of Arts and Science.
-
But it's coming from
-
the top end of the university.
-
STEVE: And the letter said essentially
-
you you must call people by
-
the pronouns they want?
-
JORDAN: The letters basically said that –
-
and this is paraphrasing, obviously –
-
that I'm required to abide by the university
-
policies and the Ontario Human Rights Code.
-
And there's a strong implication in the letter,
-
by having this discussion,
-
that I wasn't doing so.
-
And so, they're asking me to stop.
-
And I can tell you also
-
why they're asking me to stop
-
apart from that. The codes, as written,
-
make the university just as liable
-
for my speech as I am. So, not only is
-
there a reasonable possibility that what
-
I'm doing is uttering hate speech now
-
under our law, but the university is
-
legally responsible for that.
-
And so, I think they consulted with their lawyers
-
and decided that maybe the claim that
-
I was making in my video was correct – that –
-
So – And so, I don't regard that as trivial.
-
And I think that
-
the lawyer who's discussing this is
-
downplaying the significance of it tremendously.
-
NICHOLAS: Could I speak to the campus
-
climate about this?
-
STEVE: Go ahead.
NICHOLAS: Because I don't agree with
-
why Dr. Peterson has been asked
-
to stop abusing students on campus.
-
JORDAN: To stop doing what?
NICHOLAS: Abusing students –
-
JORDAN: I see.
NICHOLAS: – and other members of
-
our learning community who do deserve
-
respect and do deserve to be able to work
-
and learn and contribute to society
-
in a place where, if they are physically assaulted,
-
if they are –
JORDAN: The assaults so far
-
came from the social-justice warriors
-
who were at this free-speech rally and
-
almost 2 million people have watched those, so far.
-
NICHOLAS: This is not accurate.
This is not accurate.
-
JORDAN: Well, you can look
at the videos yourself
-
NICHOLAS: You are being actioned because people
-
have been making complaints about your behavior.
-
JORDAN: Yes, I understand that.
-
NICHOLAS: Yes. and so we're seeing
-
a greater opportunity for social justice
-
happening that many people won't understand.
-
STEVE: Nick, can I be clear on something?
-
You've accused him of abusing
-
students by not using the pronouns they
-
want to be addressed by.
-
NICHOLAS: That's how I see it. Absolutely.
-
STEVE: That is tantamount to abuse in your view.
-
NICHOLAS: Absolutely!
-
Many, many global documents, many organizations –
-
JORDAN: How about violence?
Is it tantamount to violence?
-
NICHOLAS: Yes. Absolutely.
-
JORDAN: How about hate speech?
Is it tantamount to hate speech?
-
NICHOLAS: Yes! Of course, it's hate speech.
JORDAN: Fine. That's –
-
NICHOLAS: – to tell someone that
you won't refer to them as –
-
in a way that they –
-
that recognizes their humanity and dignity.
-
STEVE: Mary, let me get you in on this at this point.
MARY: Sure. [chuckles]
-
STEVE: You've got something you want to say
or can I put a question to you?
-
MARY: Uh, both go ahead. STEVE: Okay.
MARY: Put the question and I'll –
-
STEVE: You're a writer, Mary.
MARY: I am.
-
STEVE: I know you care about free speech
because you're a writer.
-
MARY: Yes.
STEVE: Does Jordan Peterson
-
have a little place in your heart
-
because he's arguing free speech here?
-
MARY: I think the interesting thing about
-
Jordan and how I feel about his video –
-
And Jordan and I actually had an
-
opportunity to talk at length before
-
I wrote The Walrus article. And he sails
-
really close to things that I think
-
people can relate to. And I think that we
-
all want to have an open
-
discourse, we want conversations to
-
unfold, we want people to feel like they –
-
if they have something to say – if they
-
have a question, they can ask it –
-
that they're not going to be censored.
-
But he sails really close and then right past it.
-
And that's where he and I part ways
-
because what I don't really understand
-
is when you listen to the video,
-
he piles a lot of things into the basket of
-
using the pronouns that people want.
-
And it seems to me –
-
And you can correct me if I'm wrong.
-
But one of his anxieties –
-
And he talks about being
-
fearful and anxious in his video –
-
that somehow there's a cabal of trans activists
-
who have so much power that
-
they are going to basically –
-
Using the pronouns that people want
-
and capitulating to these demands
-
sort of pulls out the
-
critical Jenga piece of
-
the Western canon, right? [chuckles] I mean, basically,
-
Jordan is arguing that this is going to
-
create chaos and anarchy and
-
that it's essentially a Marxist plot that
-
is there to sow violence and there to
-
sow confusion and topple any kind of hierarchy.
-
STEVE: Can I just jump in there for a second?
-
Is that an accurate characterization of your view on this?
-
MARY: I listened really closely to that tape.
-
I think it is. STEVE: Is it – In your view, has she
-
accurately characterized where you're coming from?
-
JORDAN: It's not a transexual cabal
-
by any stretch of the imagination.
-
Is it a cabal of radical left-wingers?
-
Yes. It's a cabal of radical left-wingers,
-
and they've been active behind and in
-
front of the scenes increasingly over
-
the last 30 years. And my estimation is
-
that departments like Women Studies have
-
trained between 300,000
-
and 3 million radical left-wing activists.
-
And they're making –
MARY: And they're all
-
underpaid, so don't worry. [LAUGHS]
JORDAN: Well, they could
-
pick higher-paying occupations if they
-
wanted higher-paying occupations. But –
-
NICHOLAS: Because sexism
does not exist. [chuckles]
-
Are you kidding me?
-
STEVE: Let's not get off topic here, folks.
Go ahead, Mary.
-
NICHOLAS: I think we're directly on point.
STEVE: Mary, come on back.
-
[inaudible crosstalk]
MARY: So, I think Jordan has conceded that –
-
I think I've grasped his concern
At the very least, I've grasped the concern
-
that there is a kind of chipping away
-
at order as we've come to know it.
-
The other thing that Jordan and I have in
-
common is a real interest in language,
-
and the idea of what can happen when
-
language changes, when it evolves.
-
And I was thinking before I came here –
-
I was thinking about – I grew up in the Bronx
-
and I was born in '61. So, I remember very well
-
when we went from "Mrs." to "Ms."
-
And my father was appalled. And he kept
-
saying "Ms" and he thought was funny
-
because if you couldn't actually identify somebody as
-
either – particularly a female – as either
-
married or single, then – chaos, right?
STEVE: The notion of
-
characterizing a woman independent of
-
her marital status was controversial at the time.
MARY: That's right. And apparently very,
-
very confusing. And so, I'm reminded of
-
that when there's the –
-
when the suggestion is made that somehow if we
-
have words that don't fit into
-
something that we're very familiar with
-
and that we've used to date, that chaos
-
will ensue, that everyone will be confused. I don't believe that.
JORDAN: Well, there's two differences.
-
MARY: There's no evidence of that historically.
-
STEVE: I hear you. But there was no law
-
obliging people to use the word "Ms."
-
MARY: But there were laws to oblige
-
people to change the way that we
-
referred to Black people, for example.
-
There was a time when
-
there were any number of words that we
-
now can only say as letters. Can I say
-
them on TVO? People were called "darkies,"
-
"niggers," "coons" in polite company. And that evolved.
-
Those things changed. When I was
-
a teenager, people were still using those words.
-
STEVE: So, this is a natural evolution in in your view.
-
MARY: This is a natural evolution.
-
And nobody's – Chaos will not ensue. And –
JORDAN: If it's a natural
-
evolution, then we don't need hate-speech
-
law to enforce it.
MARY: But we obviously –
-
we do because we can drive social change.
-
And it doesn't all have to lead to chaos
-
is my point. And I think that
-
we have seen the flip side of –
-
Jordan's argument – I think – has in fact – we
-
do have a historical record of that.
-
So, when it was left to others to name
-
people, we lost indigenous names.
-
I come from – My mother's from Ireland.
-
She was from a generation that finally got to
-
learn her own language again.
-
She couldn't even speak Gaelic to her
-
parents because they hadn't been allowed
-
to speak it. So we know. We've seen the
-
effect when people can't use their own
-
language, when they can't use their own names.
-
STEVE: Okay. Let me get Jordan to respond to that.
-
A natural evolution of things, Jordan.
-
That's how it's being described.
JORDAN: Look. Words are tools.
-
Maybe that was one of the great philosophical
-
discoveries of the 20th century.
-
And that means – And people are always
-
looking for new tools to operate in the world.
-
And if you invent a good tool,
-
like a new word, then people will pick it up
-
just as fast as they possibly can.
-
You really see that in English. But the words
-
that are being required now are not good
-
tools and that's why people aren't using them.
-
And so, instead, what we have is the
-
use of force, despite the fact that
-
that's being denied – although we've
-
already established that, at least in the
-
opinion of one of the people on this
-
panel, I'm already guilty of a hate crime,
-
which is what I said I was guilty of
-
when I made that video.
-
The issue with the law is quite
-
straightforward. The government is
-
responding – is requiring us to use
-
certain language. That's not the same as
-
not using certain language. And it's a
-
line – And this is the fundamental issue.
-
This is maybe the fundamental issue.
-
That's a line we should not cross.
-
We should not allow the government to
-
decide which words we're allowed to use.
-
It's a mistake – and it's a mistake that
-
strikes right at the heart of free speech.
-
And the thing about free speech
-
is that it's not the right to
-
criticize your leaders, which is what
-
people usually characterize it as.
-
Freedom of speech is freedom to engage
-
in the processes that we use to
-
formulate the problems in our society,
-
to generate solutions to them, and reach a
-
consensus. It's actually a mechanism –
-
it's not just another value. And you should
-
put constraints on free speech with the
-
most extreme caution because you
-
interfere with people's ability to think
-
and communicate.
STEVE: Let me get Theryn to
-
weigh in. Theryn, you've been hearing the
-
debate here in the studio. Why don't you
-
weigh in and pick it up?
THERYN: Well, I guess I'm
-
in the same boat as Dr. Peterson when
-
it comes to being guilty of a hate crime –
-
or a – sorry – a hate-speech infringement –
-
because, I mean, I draw the line somewhere.
-
For example, I refuse to use pronouns
-
like "zes" and "zir." I don't have a problem
-
using "they/them/their" pronouns –
-
and that also happens just to be because of
-
the circles in which I move. I happen to
-
know people who use gender-neutral
-
pronouns so I've gotten used to it.
-
But the vast majority of people are not
-
going to come into contact with the
-
incredibly small fraction of the
-
population of gender non-binary people.
-
And that's why this is never
-
really going to pick up,
-
in my opinion. When it comes to
-
"Mrs." and "Ms.," at least half of
-
the population is female, so there was
-
some interaction with the term "Mrs."
-
versus "Ms.," and there were some
-
interactions so people could pick it up.
-
There just aren't enough gender
-
non-binary – I use that in quotation marks,
-
because I hate that term because it's a
-
political term not a gender
-
identity or a term of
-
identification. It's just a political term.
-
But regardless, I don't think it's
-
going to pick up. There's just not enough
-
of these people to interact with.
-
STEVE: The Twittersphere has been
buzzing with this conversation.
-
And let's just pull one up here.
-
Let's pull up one tweet. This was
-
tweeted to a number of people including,
-
as you can see in the middle, Jordan B. Peterson,
-
who's on our program tonight.
-
"I so look forward to Bill C16 putting
-
your kind of silly trolling to an end," it says.
-
There are people – Let's go to our
-
Professor Kyle in Ottawa. "There are
-
people out there who hope that C16 lives
-
up to Jordan's worst fears. Do you agree
-
that C16 ought to be able to prevent
-
people from expressing negative opinions
-
about transgender people?" KYLE: So, first I want
-
to clarify that Bill C16 only applies to
-
federally-regulated entities.
-
So, for example, the University of Toronto is
-
under provincial jurisdiction, so it is
-
therefore subject to the Ontario Human Rights Code.
-
So, I think that's an
-
important point to note. I also want to
-
note there's been a lot of talk about
-
hate crimes. That seems to be
-
kind of an American import into our discussion.
-
The only two changes that
-
this Bill C16 make are to make minor
-
amendments to Section 318 and 718
of the Criminal Code.
-
The first is advocating genocide,
-
as I've talked about –
a very, very extreme, high standard.
-
And then second off,
-
at sentencing, after an offense has been
-
committed and the person has been found guilty,
-
what 718 does is it tells judges that
-
they ought to treat hate motivation as
-
an aggravating factor at sentencing –
-
to treat that as a more severe form.
-
And currently, we have a series of identities
-
that are set out in 718 – things like sexual
-
orientation, race. We don't have currently
-
gender identity and gender expression there.
-
And so, that's what this does.
-
So, I think – I just want to make it very
-
clear that we ought not to be importing
-
American concepts into the discussion here.
-
And so, to the extent that Bill C16
-
makes changes only to – in the Canadian
-
Human Rights Act context – to federally
-
regulated entities, which is not the
-
University of Toronto. STEVE: Nicholas, let me
-
follow up with you. Why in your view do
-
you think the trans community needs this
-
kind of legislative protection?
-
NICHOLAS: Well, thank you. That's basically the point
-
that hasn't been raised yet which is
-
that people are actually suffering huge
-
lack of access to resources that will
-
allow people to survive. So, people are
-
being physically assaulted, people do not
-
have counselors that they can go to who
-
are not going to – as Dr. Peterson has
-
done on YouTube – recommend that they
-
actually become more anxious and more
-
upset about situations. People are being assaulted.
-
I brought all sorts of really
-
depressing stats that – People who are
-
leaning towards thinking that this is
-
not that big of a deal, those people need
-
to look at those stats. But many people –
STEVE: Give us one. Give us one stat.
-
NICHOLAS: Yeah. So, 58% of students
-
could not get academic transcripts with
-
their correct name or pronoun.
-
That causes a huge chain of events for
-
students or anybody who's had any kind
-
of academic training. As everyone
-
recognizes, we need to be able to have
-
references, we need to be able to have resumes,
-
we need to be able to get jobs.
-
STEVE: So, I want to be sure that I'm
-
clearly understanding your point here,
-
which is – and therefore they feel disrespected,
-
and therefore this affects their life in
-
a very real way? Is that right?
-
NICHOLAS: The feeling of disrespect is not as
-
important as the ways that people in
-
authority are able to circumvent the
-
possibilities for living. So, it has more
-
to do with not being able to find housing,
-
and therefore being homeless.
-
It has more to do with not being able to get
-
jobs because people are discriminated against.
-
So we're not actually talking –
-
we shouldn't be talking about free speech.
-
What we should be talking about are the
-
social issues facing people who are
-
being discriminated against
-
and what that looks like on campus –
-
which is that some professors refuse to offer
-
basic dignity to students and colleagues.
-
And that leads to people missing classes,
-
it leads to people dropping out, it leads
-
to a lack of positive opportunity for
-
society to actually benefit from the
-
contributions of many, many people.
-
And I also don't teach that there's a huge
-
divide between trans people and
-
non trans people because I would say
-
the number is 100% of people
-
will benefit from more open discussion.
-
And one of the problems is that
-
it's being addressed in a black-and-white way.
-
So, it's too bad that we can't actually
-
have an open conversation because there's
-
a huge wall of violence between us.
-
STEVE: Here is somebody who did not
-
share your view on that because we
-
invited another guest to be on the
-
program today. And this person initially
-
said "yes," and then sent a Facebook
-
message to our producer [unknown]
-
[? Schamberg] saying, "You know what?
-
Changed my mind." "Giving Jordan Peterson this
-
platform serves to legitimize
-
his views which are based on bigotry and misinformation.
-
The humanity and rights
-
of transgender non-binary and intersex
-
people are not a matter of debate,
-
and holding a debate which places a false
-
equivalency between the views expressed
-
by Peterson and the human rights
-
concerns of the trans community would be
-
an act of transphobia. Therefore, none of
-
us wish to participate in this." Okay.
-
NICHOLAS:Thank you. Thank you for reading that. It was a very
-
important perspective. STEVE: That's why I read it. I
-
wonder whether, Jordan,
-
everybody's talking past each other here.
-
You are trying to make a point about free speech.
-
JORDAN: I don't think we're talking past each other.
-
STEVE: The other side – Well, but the others – You're
-
trying to make a point about free speech.
-
The other side is trying to make
-
a point about the rights – the human
-
rights of trans people. That's not the
-
point that you're trying to make.
-
Do we have two different groups here that are
-
trying to make two different points and
-
they find themselves in the same bowl of soup,
-
and that's why this has turned into
-
the conflagration it has?
-
JORDAN: Well, it's partly that, because the issues we're
-
discussing have to center on some
-
actual issues, and they happen to be
-
centering on the issue surrounding
-
transgender language. But I don't think
-
we're talking past each other at all in
-
a fundamental sense. I mean, I think that
-
the real problem here is that
-
there's a concerted attempt made being
-
made by many people to
-
subvert all values to the value of equality of outcome.
-
And we need more than one value,
-
first of all, if we're going to survive
-
as a society, because you can't solve
-
every problem with the same approach.
-
But there are more insidious things, in my
-
estimation, going on underneath.
-
I mean even the the missive that you just read
-
said that, well, even providing me with a
-
platform – let's call it – to express my
-
views is something that shouldn't be allowed.
-
It's like, "Yes, that's why I made the video."
-
It was because many people are
-
claiming that the expression of these
-
sorts of views should no longer be permitted.
-
And it's this view for now.
-
But this is a minor issue in some ways
-
compared to the larger issue that's at stake,
-
which is our right to have
-
discussions of this sort at all.
-
Like, I mean, one thing that happened right when
-
we started this was that there was an
-
initial claim, for example, that there's
-
no such thing as biological sex.
-
Well, I believe quite firmly that if we continue
-
on our present path at the universities
-
for five more years, that's a discussion we
-
will not actually be able to have on campuses.
-
Because – STEVE: Because you believe –
JORDAN: By fiat. I mean,
-
the legislation already implicitly presumes
-
that biological sex, gender identity,
-
and gender expression – which we haven't
-
even talked about yet – vary independently.
-
That is simply not true.
STEVE: Theryn, there –
-
the person who sent that Facebook message
-
thinks that we're partaking in
-
transphobia just by having this debate.
-
I hope that's not the case. But I wonder if
-
you could give us your explanation for
-
why some people adamantly refuse even
-
to have this discussion – that the notion
-
of having this discussion is somehow transphobic.
-
THERYN: I think it has to do with –
-
There's a lacking when it
-
comes to actually being able
-
to defend your points through argument.
-
So, if you open up the discussion for argument,
-
they know they will lose.
-
I think it's absolutely ludicrous and
-
insane to say that having this
-
discussion is, by default, transphobic.
-
I think it's even more – it's equally
-
ludicrous to call Dr. Peterson – what he
-
said – transphobic. I think it takes –
-
Using that term so willy-nilly,
-
it takes the emotional response to
-
a term like "transphobia" and [conflates] it
-
with something as, in my opinion,
-
as productive as having an open discussion.
-
And I think that's very insidious.
-
And I think that's very manipulative.
-
STEVE: Kyle? Are we being transphobic here by
-
having this debate? KYLE: Well, I do worry about
-
setting up a false equivalency
-
in this conversation and really even having –
-
making the premise that trans lives are
-
up for debate. They're not up for debate.
-
Human rights aren't up for debate.
-
And the reason that I agreed to be on
-
the program is that I've been very troubled
-
by the misinformation about what the law
-
is actually going to do. And so, I really
-
grappled with whether or not I wanted
-
to participate in this discussion.
-
But I thought it was very important to really
-
try to dial back the hateful rhetoric
-
and actually do a very careful
-
discussion about what the law is
-
actually designed to achieve and,
-
ultimately, to promote a more equitable
-
and just society. So, we've talked about
-
freedom of expression to use the
-
Canadian term, but we should also be
-
talking about other values like equality
-
and anti-racism, I think. STEVE: Just curious,
-
Mary, I'm gonna get to in one sec.
-
curious, though. You've now participated
-
in 90% of the program. We're just about done.
-
Do you – Was it a good idea for you to come on?
-
KYLE: I think that it's an opportunity
-
to try to work through some of
-
the legal issues, the social and human rights
-
and equality issues, and so, I'm happy
-
to be here. But I recognize that other
-
people's experiences – they might find,
-
ultimately, that participating in this
-
program was a mistake. And time will tell.
-
STEVE: Mary, you wanted to follow up.
MARY: Well, I certainly – sorry –
-
I certainly want to say that I found
-
Kyle – I found that what you brought to it
-
in terms of putting the bill
-
into perspective actually really helpful,
-
and probably helpful to a lot of people.
-
So, I'm glad that Kyle was here.
-
I think, for me, one of the things that I'm really –
-
I felt anxious about coming in –
-
and I'm still puzzling over – why this issue?
-
Why this issue? So – and I do think – at the risk
-
of bringing in the United States again,
-
there does seem to be a similarity
-
between some of the rhetoric we're
-
hearing down south right now through
-
the election and this. It's been –
-
It feels like it's greatly exaggerated –
-
sort of what can – what will fallout from this, what will –
-
And we're sort of – It feels like a bit of
-
a tempest in a teapot. I don't see
-
the connections that Jordan is making.
-
And as a person who identifies as transgender,
-
it's very, very confusing that this is
-
somehow up for discussion.
STEVE: You saw the
-
tape at the beginning of the program
-
of the – I mean he tried to give a speech at
-
a university campus and was really quite
-
mercilessly shouted down.
MARY: And that would
-
be one of the places where Jordan and I
-
would have some common ground in
-
that there has been a trend,
-
in some ways, for people to allow
-
no platforming, and, "This person's views
-
are objectionable and we don't want them
-
to come on the campus."
STEVE: What do you think of that?
-
MARY: I think it's probably
-
best not discussed in the context of
-
someone's personal identity, right? [chuckles]
-
So,that's part of my – that's part of what
-
I'm bothered by by this discussion. So –
-
STEVE: But if you can't have a discussion about
-
free speech on a university campus,
-
then I guess you can't have one,
-
because that's supposed to be
where they happen, isn't it?
-
MARY: I agree with you. I think that
-
that is a problem. What I'm trying to say
-
is that those issues came up around –
-
issues of someone who was
-
pro-Israel who wanted to come onto campus –
-
those things are political.
-
My identity, my personal identity, my gender
-
identity is very separate from my
-
political identity. And so, it's very
-
strange to have this to be where we're
-
going to plant the flag and say,
-
"Enough with this crazy political correctness!" [chuckles]
-
"You don't get to choose your pronouns!"
-
It seems trivial to me.
JORDAN: I thought it was
-
an axiom, say, of feminism, for example,
-
that the personal was political.
-
And isn't that the –? That's a famous phrase.
-
The personal is political. STEVE: Okay. But speaking – NICHOLAS: The personal is
-
political when someone is attacking you
-
on a basis that is personal and that you
-
can't change about yourself. That's a –
-
That is political. And that's when people
-
sometimes become politicized is when
-
they realize that no matter what they do
-
in the world, there will be people who
-
will continue to attack them on racist grounds,
-
on gender and sexual violence grounds.
-
And that's why people start to fight back,
-
and that's why people object.
-
But on –
JORDAN And your attempts to regulate
-
my language use and your repeated –
NICHOLAS: I don't care about
-
your language use. I care about the
-
safety of the people who are being harmed.
-
JORDAN: I know. People who make your kinds of
-
arguments are always concerned with
-
other people's safety.
NICHOLAS: I'm concerned with
-
my own safety.
-
My – Just so that people are aware,
-
my physical, emotional, life, and livelihood
-
is at risk from being here. And that's not true of everyone.
-
JORDAN: In comparison to mine, say.
NICHOLAS: I don't know about
-
yours, because I don't live your life.
JORDAN: Yes you do. You know perfectly well about mine.
-
You know about the letter.
NICHOLAS: I do know that you have tenure and that that's
-
one of the major ways that you're able
-
to do this. But I just want people to be
-
aware that trans-and gender-diverse
-
communities – and especially people of color –
-
are being targeted and threatened physically.
-
So, free speech is a great
-
idea and equality is a great idea,
-
but we actually can't have those conversations
-
when people are not even able to be present.
-
STEVE: Jordan, let me read this tweet to you,
-
and I'll get you to respond to
-
it because I think it's instructive of
-
the conversation that just took place
-
between the two of you.
-
"Can someone please explain
-
to Jordan B Peterson that there's a
-
difference between freedom of speech and
-
freedom from consequence?" Do you agree
-
there's a difference?
JORDAN: Well, certainly
-
there's a difference. STEVE: And are you
-
prepared to suffer the consequences that
-
society may deem you need to suffer
-
because of your views?
-
JORDAN: Yes, I'm prepared to do that. So –
-
STEVE: What does that entail?
NICHOLAS: Are you open open to learning?
-
STEVE: Well, hang on.
JORDAN: That's not the question.
-
STEVE: Hang on. That that wasn't the question.
NICHOLAS: That's true.
-
JORDAN: Well, so what am I willing to do?
-
Well, I think that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal
-
is probably obligated,
-
by their own tangled web, to bring me in
-
front of it. If they fine me, I won't pay it.
-
If they put me in jail, I'll go on a hunger strike.
-
I'm not doing this.
-
And that's that. I'm not using the words that
-
other people require me to use –
-
especially if they're made up by radical
-
left-wing ideologues.
-
Now, if our society comes to some sort of
-
consensus over the next while about how
-
we'll solve the pronoun problem –
-
let's call it – and that becomes part of popular parlance,
-
and it seems to solve the
-
problem properly without sacrificing the
-
distinction between singular and plural,
-
and without requiring me to memorize
-
an impossible list of an indefinite number of pronouns,
-
then I would be willing to
-
reconsider my position. But I'm also
-
partly opposed to this because it's been
-
made mandatory and has the whole weight
-
of the law behind it. It's like this is a
-
very bad idea. I believe this is a very
-
bad idea. And I believe that the reason
-
this has caused so much noise –
-
tremendous amount of noise – tremendous amount of
-
attention on YouTube – is because there
-
are things that are at stake
-
in this discussion – despite its surface nature –
-
that strike at the very
-
heart of our civilization. That's what I believe.
-
STEVE: Do you have tenure? JORDAN: I do.
-
STEVE: So, they can't fire you for this.
JORDAN: Well, it's
-
not all that easy to figure out what
-
people can and can't do. If I'm –
-
Certainly, they could fire me if I was – let's say –
-
if the hate-speech allegations,
-
so to speak, stuck. I mean, the university – Look.
-
The university's been quite reasonable
-
about this, especially compared to many universities.
-
STEVE: Actually –
JORDAN: We're going to have a debate.
-
STEVE: I was just going to say –
We've got a minute left and
-
do want to give it to Jordan
JORDAN: Yeah. Okay.
-
STEVE: Because the university has not said entirely,
-
"Shut up. We don't want to hear this anymore."
-
JORDAN: No. But I went and
-
talked to the dean on Friday. And I sat
-
down with my family and I thought,
-
"Okay. What would be the best way for this
-
to go for everyone – for me and and for my
-
students and for the university and for society?"
-
I thought, "Okay. Well, really
-
obviously, there's an issue here –
-
several of them – because otherwise, all of this
-
noise wouldn't have emerged. So we should
-
actually have a debate about it."
STEVE: And that's happening.
-
JORDAN: Yes. So I went and
-
talked to the Dean, David Cameron, who is
-
a very reasonable person and I said,
-
"Look, well, I think the University of Toronto
-
should take a leadership position on this.
-
And there's issues to be discussed here.
-
STEVE: So who are you debating?
-
JORDAN: Hah! Well, that remains to be seen.
-
I haven't seen people flooding out of
the woodwork to debate me so far.
-
STEVE: You have a date, place, and time yet?
-
JORDAN: Um, we don't. It'll be on the campus.
-
It'll probably be on a
-
morning in the next two weeks.
-
STEVE: Okay. You let me know we'll tweet it out there.
-
JORDAN: I will let you know. Absolutely.
STEVE: Okay. That's our time
-
I'm afraid, everybody. I do want to thank
-
everybody for coming in tonight.
-
And I hope you found it was worth your while.
-
We certainly found it, I think, a very useful exercise.
-
NICHOLAS: Can I [inaudible] resources for people?
STEVE: Sorry?
-
NICHOLAS: People who just watched this program may be really
-
in need of something.
STEVE: Sure. You've got a website?
-
I would really encourage people to go to
-
transformingjustice.ca. It's a
-
current research initiative that will
-
appeal to anyone with any interest in
-
research and learning.
STEVE: Say it again.
-
BOTH: transformingjustice.ca.
-
STEVE: We are happy to put that out there.
-
NICHOLAS: Thank you.
STEVE: Theryn Meyer, the trans pundit and
-
Youtuber in Vancouver; Kyle Kirkup,
-
the professor of law at the University of Ottawa;
-
we thank both of you for being outside
-
our studio but part of our broadcast tonight.
-
Jordan Peterson of the U of T;
-
Nick Matte, from the U of T; Mary Rogan,
-
you can read more about this in her piece,
-
"Growing Up Trans," in the October issue
-
of Walrus magazine, on
-
better bookstore and corner-store stands
-
everywhere. Thanks so much, everybody.
-
GUESTS: Thank you.
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