Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Publication Title

Journal of Law and Equality

Volume

10

First Page

37

Last Page

discrimination, Supreme Court of Canada

Abstract

Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” brand of equality rights advocacy is premised, in part, on the injustice of being discriminated against because of personal characteristics beyond our control. Her political message has broad appeal and a long history. From the suffragettes to Martin Luther King, Jr., many of the most influential civil rights advocates have made arguments that centred on so-called immutable personal characteristics. This popular attitude has also played a significant role in the evolution of equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, influencing the doctrine for determining grounds of discrimination analogous to those enumerated in section 15. However, what does it mean for a personal characteristic to be immutable, and should our understanding of discrimination be limited to such characteristics

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