Want to skip the biology class dissection or be served a vegan meal in hospital? The Ontario Human Rights Commission is expanding protections for strongly held secular, moral and ethical beliefs. On the list, ethical veganism.
The Commission’s been digging into expanding its interpretation of human rights to include non-religious beliefs since 2011. It recently issued an updated policy on preventing discrimina-tion and, after lobbying from groups like Animal Justice, now says secular beliefs like veganism deserve legal protection.
The Commission says, “With our changing society and the emergence of new belief systems, it was time to revisit our policy to make sure it reflected today’s complex reality.”
Animal Justice says the policy should provide guidance to employers, housing providers and service providers on how they can accommodate vegans.
That means besides getting vegan hospital meals, employers can’t force you to wear leather- or fur-containing uniforms, or exclude vegan employees by holding regular company networking events at, say, a steak house.
In 2011, Ryerson master’s student Sinem Ketenci filed a claim with the Commission alleging that she was discriminated against and “demonized” by some of her profs who took issue with the fact that she “equated the value of animals to the value of humans.” At the time, Ryerson argued that ethical veganism wasn’t actually protected under the human rights code.
Why label it ethical veganism versus just plain veganism? It distinguishes those who avoid animal products because of strong moral views from dietary or health vegans like Beyoncé and Bill Clinton. Word is Clinton has now shifted to the meat-centred paleo diet.
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