Human Rights A Day

U.S. Senate gives women the vote. It was in 1848 that American suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott first proposed that women be able to vote. Little did they know it would take seven decades of lobbying, protests and arm-twisting to make the dream come true. Amending the American constitution (like amending any country’s constitution) is a difficult process; it requires agreement from two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then three-quarters of the states. In January of 1919, the House of Representatives passed the Women’s Suffrage Bill, also known as the Susan Anthony amendment. Five months later, on June 4, 1919, the Senate gave its approval. Then began the state-by-state campaign, which succeeded the day Tennessee passed the amendment by just one vote. The secretary of state certified the ratification on August 26, 1920, finally granting most American women the vote. Two years later, the Supreme Court protected the new amendment by ruling against a legal challenge

Chinese government deploys troops that massacre citizens in Tiananmen Square. In 1981, Hu Yaobang became China’s leader when he was appointed the Communist Party’s general secretary. Hu was deposed in 1987 when the party accused him of being soft on college students who had been demonstrating in favour of political reforms and against system-wide corruption. When Hu died in April of 1989, people gathered in Tiananmen Square, located in the centre of Beijing, to honour his legacy and voice dissatisfaction with the pace of reforms. When Premier Li Peng refused to meet with student representatives, and the Community Party newspaper’s editorial accused them of trying to overthrow the government and socialism, students from 40 campuses boycotted classes and marched on Tiananmen Square. On May 20, the government declared martial law on Beijing, only to find tanks and troops kept at bay by defiant students and citizens. At its peak, the protest involved one million people occupying the square. As the government made

U.S. Congress grants Native Americans citizenship. Native Americans were deprived of most of the rights that non-native Americans took for granted. Worse, they were resettled on unproductive land. In 1887, the Dawes Act was created to protect Indian property rights before settlers could claim the land. But numerous fraudulent bureaucrats who were sent to protect natives profited from them instead. Even when the government repealed the Dawes Act, the land was not returned. On June 2, 1924, U.S. Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. This did not give them the vote, since state law governed that right, but by 1948, all states had legislated Native Americans’ right to vote. Of course, the law was only as good as the politicians and officials who administered elections. Over the years, the government of the United States, like all Western countries with indigenous peoples, initiated strategies to assimilate natives into the American way of life. As history shows, this onl

Canada's Stephen Lewis appointed UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Stephen Lewis was born into a politically active family on November 11, 1937. His father, David Lewis, led the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) in the early 1970s; the younger Lewis followed in his footsteps at the provincial level. At 26 and still a student at the University of Toronto, Lewis was elected to the Ontario legislature, where he became its leader only seven years later. Under his leadership, the NDP became the official Opposition. Six years after he stepped down, Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney boldly appointed Lewis as Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations. Lewis occupied the post from 1984 until 1988, but his work at the international level continued, including work as the Deputy Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the African Unity panel to investigate the genocide in Rwanda. On June 1, 2001, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed Lewis his special envoy for HIV/AID

Tobacco advertising and smoking in federal buildings slapped with severe restrictions. Canadians’ addiction to cigarettes has been well documented for generations. However, tobacco companies’ money, influence and smarts always enabled them to entice minors to smoke, and thwart government officials who supported non-smoking workplaces. As more and more people began calling the situation a human rights issue, Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government made a move. With Health Minister Jake Epp, it passed the Tobacco Products Control Act, which specified a future date – January 1, 1989 – by which no tobacco advertising could appear in or on television, radio, magazines and newspapers. The act also paved the way to phase out billboard ads and severely restrict tobacco sponsorships of cultural and sporting events. The same day, the House of Commons passed the Nonsmoker’s Health Act. This Bill, introduced by the New Democratic Party’s MP Lynn McDonald, severely restricted smoking in workplaces under fede

Transsexual American celebrity is born. George William Jorgensen was born to Danish American parents on May 30, 1926, in the Bronx, New York. After graduating from Christopher Columbus High School in 1945, he was drafted into the Army, where he served for two years. According to Jorgensen, he always felt like someone born in the wrong body. In 1950, at the age of 49, he addressed this by flying to Copenhagen, Denmark to undergo surgery that castrated him and removed his penis. (He did not, however, have a vagina constructed.) The series of medical procedures – not available in the U.S. at the time – transformed him from a man into a woman. Two years later, the newly renamed Christine Jorgenson wrote her parents, “Nature made a mistake, which I have corrected, and I am now your daughter.” She was an attractive woman, and returned to New York to great media attention, helping change the country’s view of transsexuals. Jorgensen was the most written about person in the U.S. in 1953; even she was surprised by th

First United Nations peacekeeping operation leads to annual day of recognition. The United Nations officially came into existence on October 24, 1945. Its Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified in 1948, is one of its most important documents. In order to protect human rights, the UN marked peacekeeping as an early priority. The first peacekeeping operation was established for the Middle East in 1948, along with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. On May 29, 1948, operations began with unarmed military observers in Palestine, an assignment that continues today. Since then, dozens of peacekeeping operations have involved thousands of troops in monitoring ceasefires and buffer zones, and serving as military observers, disarmament experts, civilian police, human rights workers, humanitarian workers and civil administrators. At its peak in 1993, the UN had 70,000 troops deployed around the world. Although peacekeeping is not mentioned in the UN Charter, the Security Council provides the ma

Amnesty International begins with simple letter-writing campaign. British lawyer Peter Benenson was horrified when he read a story about two Portuguese students sentenced to seven years in jail for raising a toast to freedom. He contacted the British newspaper The Observer, asking it to bring attention to the “forgotten prisoners” of the world. On May 28, 1961, The Observer launched its year-long campaign, “Appeal for Amnesty 1961.” Response was overwhelming. In less than a month, more than 1,000 people had offered to help the prisoners of conscience, and within a year, the campaign had turned into a viable organization in seven countries. Delegates went around the world to raise the profile of 210 cases. Over the years, Amnesty International grew to focus not just on prisoners of conscience, but also on victims of human rights abuses such as torture, “disappearances” and the death penalty. While their international and many national headquarters deal with issues at a governmental and business level, the day-

Burma’s military dictatorship refuses to recognize landslide election results. Aung San Suu Kyi was born on June 19, 1945 to Ma Khin Kyi and General Aung San, a commander in the Burmese Independence Army. After his assassination and Burma’s independence from England, his wife took ambassadorial posts abroad. Suu Kyi only returned to Burma in 1988 to look after her mother. It was a time of political strife marked by massive demonstrations and violent retaliation from the military regime. In August of that year, Suu Kyi suggested the government prepare for multi-party elections. Instead, the government outlawed political gatherings and placed harsh restrictions on civil rights. Suu Kyi responded by joining in the political rallies and civil disobedience. When the National League for Democracy (NLD) formed, she emerged as its general secretary. After her mother’s death in December 1988, Suu Kyi pledged to serve her country, like her parents. She endured a life of harassment and imprisonment by house arrest. Wh

Denmark becomes first country to legalize gay and lesbian relationships. Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals have been breaking down barriers for decades, especially in Western nations. Many countries have passed laws to protect people from losing their jobs, housing and basic rights on the basis of sexual orientation. But those protections seldom extend to gay men and lesbians wanting to be treated as a couple. On May 26, 1989, Denmark became the first country to grant gay and lesbian couples rights and responsibilities similar to heterosexual married couples. While it did not require churches to marry them, it did allow them to register with the government in civil ceremonies. Norway, Sweden and Iceland followed suit in 1996, and Finland a few years later. In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to grant gay and lesbian couples full marriage rights, followed by Belgium in 2003, Spain and Canada in 2005 and South Africa in 2006. While the U.S. doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage, the state of Massachus

Gay couple denied spousal benefits, but sexual orientation added to charter protections. James Egan and John Nesbit were a gay couple that had lived together since 1948. In 1986, when Egan reached 65, he became eligible for Old Age Security and a guaranteed income supplement. When Nesbit reached age 60, he applied for the spousal allowance available to the spouse of a pensioner between the ages of 60 and 65 in cases where the couple’s combined income falls below a certain level. The government denied Nesbit the income supplement, explaining that “spouse” is defined as a member of the opposite sex. Both men took the federal government to court, and their case ended up at the Supreme Court of Canada. On May 25, 1995, in a five to four split, the majority of judges ruled against Egan and Nesbit. They said that Parliament’s decision to support couples had been based on heterosexual couples’ ability to procreate. Most children, they stated, are the result of heterosexual relationships. However, the court also rule

Chief Peguis honoured with monument erected in Winnipeg’s Kildonan Park. Chief Peguis was born in 1774 near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. At age 16, the young leader resettled his Saulteaux tribe where the Red River flows into Lake Winnipeg. (Today, it’s called Netley Creek, Manitoba.) When a man named Lord Selkirk and his group of Scottish settlers showed up there in 1812, Peguis helped them settle and offered them protection. He also sided with the Hudson’s Bay Company against its rival, the North West Company, due to concerns about the latter’s intentions for his people. Lord Selkirk rewarded Peguis for his support by signing a treaty that gave his people priority over other bands that had lived in the area longer. After Peguis and his band moved to St. Peters, north of Winnipeg, Peguis often visited Kildonan to celebrate Scottish festivities. He became friends with Anglican missionary Reverend William Cochrane, but when he asked to join Cochrane’s church, the minister refused on the basis that Peguis had fou

University swim coach wrongfully loses his job for sexual harassment.On May 23, 1997, Simon Fraser University (SFU) fired swim coach Liam Donnelly for “severe sexual harassment” against student Rachel Marsden. Right from the start, the case was a disaster, thanks to university officials not following proper procedures, and the university trying to back peddle numerous times. As a result, Donnelly ended up being rehired and Marsden awarded $12,000 for counselling and other expenses. Meantime, SFU President John Stubbs ended up leaving the university along with almost $300,000 in severance pay. The university, after footing Donnelly’s $60,000 legal bills and watching its name dragged across provincial and national papers, wisely decided to conduct a formal review of its harassment and discrimination cases. Eventually, the institution underwent an extensive and expensive process to change its harassment policy, to ensure such mistakes and headlines would not occur again. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt

Rick Hansen completes his Man in Motion world tour.Rick Hansen was 15 years old the summer of 1973 when an automobile accident left him a paraplegic. Despite the setback, Hansen went on to become a top wheelchair athlete, winning numerous international wheelchair marathons and three world championships. He even competed for Canada in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Hansen’s greatest achievements, of course, were yet to come. On March 21, 1985, Hansen and a crew left the Oakridge Mall in Vancouver, B.C. to start his Man in Motion world tour, designed to raise funds for spinal cord injury research, rehabilitation and wheelchair sport. For two years, two months and two days, Hansen wheeled his way around the world, covering 40,072 kilometres. During his trek through 34 countries on four continents, Hansen covered between 50 and 70 kilometres per day, repaired 126 flat tires, wore out 94 gloves and was robbed four times. Crowds greeted him everywhere he went – including 800,000 cheering people in Tianjin,

Marshall law imposed in Alabama after “freedom riders” attacks.When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a White man in 1955, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public transit was unconstitutional. When the same court stated that segregation within interstate travel was also illegal in 1960, the “freedom riders” took over. On May 4, 1961, 13 young activists boarded two buses from Washington, D.C., on their way to Virginia. They quickly encountered resistance and violence, but it was in Anniston, Alabama, where more than one hundred angry and violent white people met them. The bus was firebombed, forcing people out of the bus and since the Ku Klux Klan was given assurances that the local police would not interfere, the freedom riders were attacked. Organizers quickly called off the ride, but others wanted to continue. On May 17, 11 activists took a bus from Nashville to Birmingham, Alabama, but before they could get there, the local police arrested them. While federal Attorney General Robert

Amelia Earhart begins solo flight across the Atlantic.Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas, later moving to California. Six months after her first flying lesson she bought her first plane. Just seven years later, on June 17, 1928, Earhart, Bill Stultz and Slim Gordon became the first to fly across the Atlantic, leaving Newfoundland and arriving in Wales 21 hours later. Earhart married one of the flight’s supporters, publisher George Putnam. Together, the couple secretly planned for Earhart’s solo crossing of the Atlantic. So it was on May 20, 1932, Earhart launched from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, aimed for Paris, France. Due to bad weather and mechanical problems she landed in a farmer’s field near Londonderry, Ireland, and her effort won her international admiration and awards. Earhart secured many other flying firsts and just prior to her 40th birthday, she made plans for a 29,000-mile trip around the world with navigator Fred Noonan. On June 1, 1937, they left Miami heading east, a

Supreme Court of Canada says mentally challenged deserve same services.In 1979, Janice Berg was accepted into the master’s program in the School of Family and Nutritional Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Despite a history of controllable, recurrent depression, she studied hard enough to keep her grades above average. But one day in 1981, she wrote “I am dead” on a school’s washroom mirror, then attempted to jump through a plate-glass window when RCMP officers appeared in the hallway. Two years later, an instructor refused Berg a “rating sheet,” one of the criteria she needed to apply for a hospital internship. About the same time, Berg found herself refused a key to the school’s new facilities for after-hours work, without a doctor’s note. She complained to the B.C. Human Rights Council, which found the university liable for discrimination against Berg due to her mental disability. The B.C. Supreme Court and the B.C. Court of Appeal both overturned that decision. But on May 19, 1993, the Suprem

No women pastors for us, say U.S. Southern Baptists.The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was founded in Augusta, Georgia in 1845. One hundred and fifty years later, with 16 million members in more than 40,000 churches, the SBC represented the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. Although known for its conservative values, women had been allowed as pastors in small numbers. That changed when more conservative elements in the church decided to spell out a clear policy on women’s roles. In 1998, the church issued a statement at its annual meeting ruling that a wife should “submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband.” Two years later, on May 18, 2000, it followed that up with a document that declared, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” SBC leaders accepted the resolution at their annual meeting on June 14, 2000, while specifying that the approximately 1,600 women pastors alread

Supreme Court upholds Christian university’s right to train teachers with an anti-homosexual bias.Trinity Western University is a private institution in Langley, B.C. associated with the Evangelical Free Church of Canada and promoting Christian views. It’s also an accredited member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. In the mid-1990s, Trinity offered an education degree, but the institution’s limited resources had led administrators to make an arrangement with nearby Simon Fraser University for education students in their fifth and final year to complete the degree there. Since administrators also wanted the program to reflect Christian views, they applied in 1995 to the British Columbia College of Teachers to assume full responsibility for the final year’s accreditation. The College of Teachers turned down their request on the basis that before entering Trinity, students are required to sign a “community standards” document that forbids biblically condemned practices such as swearing,

Restaurants not required to allow guide dogs in, case rules.
Douglas Parisian, accompanied by his guide dog Iggy, attempted to have lunch in Winnipeg’s Hermes restaurant on June 19, 1985. Located near the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), Hermes attracted a number of customers who were blind, and even provided its menu in Braille. Parisian was scheduled to meet a CNIB employee. But to Parisian’s surprise, owner Christ Voulgaris confronted him at the front door, saying the dog wasn’t allowed. Opinion varies as to what occurred next, but it is certain that Parisian and his colleague opted for a different restaurant that day and that Parisian later complained to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission. When the case went to a tribunal, adjudicator Frank Allen ruled on May 16, 1987 that the restaurant had not violated any rights. According to Allen, restaurant staff cannot be expected to always identify a blind person (even though Parisian’s blindness was obvious to anyone concerned). He also observe