A B.C. nurse has been fined nearly $100,000 and will have her license suspended for one month as a punitive measure for her stance on protecting female-only spaces, such as washrooms, crisis centres, sporting events, and prisons.
The disciplinary panel of the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives suspended Amy Hamm’s nursing license for one month and has ordered her to pay $93,639.80 in legal costs.
“The College has chosen to punish me for statements that are not hateful, but truthful,” said Hamm in a statement released by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom on Thursday.
“I’m appealing because biological reality matters, and so does freedom of expression. I want to express my thanks to the thousands of Canadians who continue to fund my legal case through donations to the Justice Centre.”
Hamm had been previously promoted to be a nurse educator and worked in healthcare for over 13 years before becoming embroiled in a scandal over statements she made defending the right of women to access female-only spaces.
She co-sponsored a Vancouver billboard in 2020 that read, “I ♥ JK Rowling,” author of the Harry Potter series.
The message was in reference to Rowling’s support for women’s rights and desire to protect female-only spaces.
The billboard received complaints from a Vancouver city councillor and activists before ultimately being taken down.
Two formal complaints were subsequently filed with the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives, accusing Hamm of transphobia and hate speech.
The College launched an investigation, which resulted in a 332-page report reviewing Hamm’s public statements between 2018 and 2021 on social media, podcasts and elsewhere.
According to the College’s Inquiry Committee, Hamm made “discriminatory and derogatory comments about transgender people while identifying as a nurse.”
Following over three weeks of hearings that spanned a year and a half, the disciplinary panel concluded that four of Hamm’s statements amounted to unprofessional conduct.
However, Hamm has appealed, and her case will now go to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
“In our view, the panel made a number of legal and factual errors that make the decision unsound, and we look forward to arguing these points before the B.C. Supreme Court. We are now considering whether to appeal the penalty decision as well,” said Hamm’s lawyer, Lisa Bildy.
“This decision effectively penalizes a nurse for expressing mainstream views aligned with science and common sense. The Panel’s ruling imposes a chilling effect on free expression for all regulated professionals.”