''R v Glad Day Bookshops Inc'', (2004) is a leading
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges.
...
decision on
pornography
Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults, and
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
. The court found that a statutory scheme requiring the approval of the
Ontario Film Review Board before films can be distributed or shown in Ontario violated the guarantee of
freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
in
section 2 of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...
.
Background
''Bad Attitude'' is a
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
magazine featuring stories of mild
sado-masochism
Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...
; it is published in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. In 1993 the magazine was the first publication to fall foul of
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
-inspired pornography laws in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
According to the court's description, the magazine
:'' consists of a series of articles where the writers fantasize about lesbian sexual encounters with a sadomasochistic theme. Photographs loosely complement some of the articles''.
A story in the magazine featuring a lesbian stalking, ambushing and pleasuring another woman was found to be obscene, and the
Glad Day Bookshop, which sold the investigating officer her copy, was fined C$200.
Significance
The case was symbolic for pornography advocates, who at the time were trying to demonstrate that the arguments of anti-porn feminists
Catharine MacKinnon and
Andrea Dworkin were antithetical to women's interests. MacKinnon and Dworkin had provided arguments for new obscenity law in Canada; in this case the law disproportionately limited the voices of gay and lesbian writers, and even led to the impounding of two titles written by Dworkin.
See also
*
List of notable Canadian lower court cases
A select number of decisions from the superior and inferior courts that have proven to be the leading case law in a number of fields and have subsequently been influential in other provinces, or else they are famous decisions in their own right. T ...
*
Anti-pornography movement
Reasons for opposition to pornography include religious objections and feminist concerns (for specific sectors of feminism), as well as alleged harmful effects, such as pornography addiction. Pornography addiction is not a condition recognized ...
External links
''Bad Attitude'' court decision
* ttp://www.badatt.com/ Bad Attitude* ttp://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onsc/2004/2004onsc11106.html Court's decision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glad Day Bookshops Inc
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms case law
Canadian freedom of expression case law
Pornography case law
Canadian LGBT rights case law
2004 in LGBT history
2004 in Canadian case law
Ontario case law
2004 in Ontario