Barbara Kay is a Canadian writer and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Barbara Kay was born on November 27, 1943 and grew up in Toronto with siblings.
Kay earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto and a master’s degree from McGill University in 1966.
Kay wrote opinion pieces for the National Post before becoming a columnist in 2003. Kay has also written for in The Post Millennial, Pajama, The Walrus, Canadian Jewish News (CJNews), and Epoch Times. Key briefly wrote for Rebel News in 2017 before leaving due to views held by some staffers.
Kay and spouse Ronny Kay married in 1964 and have two children, including anti-trans activist Jonathan Kay.
Anti-transgender activism
Kay opposed Canada’s Bill C-16, which added âgender identity or expressionâ to protected classes in regards to discrimination, hate speech, and hate crimes.
In criticizing the bill in the Post Millennial, Kay described it as “velvet totalitarianism” and misattributed a quotation to Voltaire: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” The passage was actually by white nationalist Kevin Alfred Strom describing Jewish people.
Kay told publication Canadaland:
âWith regard to the application of the quote to the Church of Gender Identity, I do not regret it at all, and here is why. The quotation makes a great deal of sense. The fact that an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist actually believed that the Jews ârule over youâ says a great deal about his twisted mind, but it does not reflect reality. I am neither a conspiracy theorist or a transphobic. My quarrel is not with trans gender people, who â I have said this repeatedly â simply want to live their lives in peace, but with the ideologues who are bent on imposing their belief system, founded in theory, but not in evidence, on everyone in the form of compelled speech and compelled expression of belief. The words of the quotation in fact make very good sense. That the mind who thought it up was corrupted by hatred to the point that he was delusionary about who âyou cannot criticizeâ is not my fault.â
During a July 18, 2018 Rights and Freedoms Institute event, Kay used the phrase again to condemn gender neutral pronouns as “compelled speech” and “compelled expression of belief.”
Kay’s Facebook profile uses the anti-trans dogwhistle “Adult human Female.” Kay and anti-trans activist Linda Blade wrote the 2021 book Unsporting: How Trans Activism and Science Denial are Destroying Sport.
References
Kay, Barbara (July 7, 2018). Bill C-16, or The Transgender Identity Bill, is an act of âVelvet Totalitarianism.â The Post Millennial https://www.thepostmillennial.com/bill-c-16-or-the-transgender-identity-bill-is-an-act-of-velvet-totalitarianism/
Strom, Kevin A (August 14, 1993). All America Must Know the Terror That is Upon Us. American Dissident Voices via America First Books http://www.amfirstbooks.com/IntroPages/ToolBarTopics/Articles/Featured_Authors/strom,_kevin/kevin_strom_works/Kevin_Strom_1991-1994/Kevin_A._Strom_19930814-ADV_All_America_Must_Know_the_Terror_That_Is_Upon_Us.html [archive]
Reuters Fact Check (February 5, 2022). âTo learn who rules over youâ quote wrongly attributed to Voltaire. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-voltaire-quote/fact-check-to-learn-who-rules-over-you-quote-wrongly-attributed-to-voltaire-idUSL1N2UE2LM
Adriaans, Eric (June 14, 2018). Panel Discussion: Bill C-16 Controversy. Toronto: Rights and Freedoms Institute. https://freedom-of-expression.ca/2018/06/14/panel-discussion-bill-c-16-controversy/ [archive]
Goldsbie, Jonathan (July 26, 2018). Barbara Kay Quotes Neo-Nazi To Justify Attack On Trans Identity: The line, which she and others have misattributed to Voltaire, was originally penned to justify criticism of Jews. Canadaland http://www.canadalandshow.com/barbara-kay-quotes-neo-nazi-to-justify-attack-on-trans-identity/ [archive]
Resources
Barbara Kay (barbarakay.ca)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)