Ontario Court of Justice requires court participants to state their 'preferred pronouns'

The Ontario Court of Justice has told lawyers presenting their cases to judges to ensure all parties involved clearly state their preferred pronouns.

This new rule will be applied to virtual and in-person court appearances.

Lawyers will also be required to clarify the pronouns of clients and witnesses when they appear before the judge.

“At the beginning of any in-person, virtual or hybrid hearings, when lawyers are introducing themselves, their client, a witness or another individual, they should provide the judge or justice of the peace with each person’s name, title (e.g. Mr., Mrs., Mx., Counsel 'X') and pronouns to be used in the hearing. If counsel does not provide this information in their introduction, they may be invited by a court clerk to provide this information. At the beginning of each court session, court clerks have been asked by Court Services Division to announce that parties appearing before the court are invited to provide their title and pronouns to the court,” reads a news release from the provincial court.

The new directive opens the door to biological males who have committed crimes against women forcing court, attorneys, and victims to use female pronouns for them during proceedings.

“Ah so this is the thing where rape victims have to pretend that their rapist is a woman, right? Very stunning and brave,” noted Toronto journalist Jonathan Kay, the former opinion pages editor for the National Post, in a post on X. 

A study from the Correctional Service of Canada found that 44 percent of male-to-female transgender prison inmates have been incarcerated for sexual crimes.