Blazingcatfur

The recent backlash against a now-retracted Amnesty International report on “the anti-rights movement in the U.K.” can be considered a case study in Canadian complacency.

Here’s what happened: On July 8, Amnesty International published a report naming dozens of registered charities, businesses and groups they accused of forming an “anti-rights movement targeting the rights of women and LGBT+ people in the U.K.” The report categorized these actors as either anti-abortion, “ultra-conservative” Christian, involved in “conversion practices,” or gender critical. The list included lesbian and gay groups, like Gay Men’s Network UK, and Lesbian Strength, as well as For Women Scotland (the group responsible for the landmark U.K. Supreme Court ruling stating that women are female) and even Beira’s Place, a women’s crisis centre founded by J.K. Rowling. The groups were accused of “fostering moral panic” with an “aim … to restrict human rights by undermining human rights protections in law and practice.”