Richard Hudler:
"Issues surrounding sex laws... go far beyond gay and lesbian liberation"
March 15, 2005
Richard Hudler
Sex Laws Committee
Parliamentary subcommittee on solicitation laws -- hearings in Toronto
My name is Richard Hudler and I am here to speak on behalf of the Sex Laws Committee, which is a Toronto-based committee of individuals committed to changing Canada’s archaic laws relating to sex and sexuality.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.
The Sex Laws Committee was originally set up by the
Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario (CLGRO), but since the issues surrounding sex laws have to do with sexual liberation generally, and go far beyond gay and lesbian liberation, we decided recently that it was better to become a separate committee. CLGRO continues to be concerned about the negative impact of these laws on the lesbian, gay and bisexual communities, particularly the indecency and bawdy-house laws.
We support all freedom of sexual expression and oppose the criminalization of sex, sexuality or sex work. Thus, we call for the repeal of all provisions of the Criminal Code restricting or prohibiting sexual activity involving consenting persons.
This includes both Criminal Code sections dealing with procuring, communicating and soliciting, and sections dealing with indecent acts and common bawdy houses.
I appreciate that this committee has been set up out of concern for the protection of sex trade workers. The bawdy house laws work to prevent the very types of establishments where sex trade workers can find a safer environment.
Too often we have seen laws put in place ostensibly to protect, but these laws tend instead to be used to control people and impose particular moral codes on people who do not themselves endorse those codes.
Protection is important and so is respecting the rights of all citizens to hold and act upon their own beliefs so long as their actions are not harming others or impinging on the rights of others to hold and act upon their beliefs.
The sex trade needs to be treated like any other trade, business or profession. Special Criminal Code laws to deal with the sex trades are not necessary. They endanger sex trade workers through forcing them underground and encouraging public hostility toward them, and they infringe on the freedom of all Canadians to hold and act upon divergent beliefs.
ADDENDUM
CLGRO also has a web page discussing common bawdy houses,
located here.