in World News BC nurse Amy Hamm found guilty of ‘unprofessional conduct’ after putting up ‘I ❤️ JK Rowling’ billboard
Hannah Nightingale
A disciplinary panel of the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives has ruled that nurse Amy Hamm committed “unprofessional conduct” after putting up an “I love JK Rowling” billboard and posting statements online in defense of womens rights, which the panel viewed as being “discriminatory and/or derogatory.”
The panel took issue with three written article by Hamm and a podcast interview she did in which she identified herself as a nurse while making the “discriminatory and derogatory comments.” They said that this was a reflection not only on Hamm but on the profession of nursing. Hamm believes that there are only two sexes, male and female, while the College apparently does not.
Hamm’s comments deemed “discriminatory and derogatory” included “trans activists determined to infiltrate or destroy women-only spaces,” and “the falsehood that babies can be ‘born in the wrong body’ or that humans can change their sex.”
The decision stated that “The Panel finds the Respondent’s statements regarding ‘the falsehood that babies can be “born in the wrong body” or that humans can change their sex’, that everyone ‘who believes in wrong bodies or innate genders’ would rather devastate a child, that men cannot change, that gender identity ideology is akin to a ‘Satanic Panic craze’, that lesbians do not have penises, that a gender soul does not exist, and that men cannot literally become women are discriminatory to transgender people because they effectively deny the existence of transgender people. As well, the Panel finds the statements that suggest that transgender people would rather harm a child than acknowledge that men cannot change, and that gender identity ideology is analogous to a Satanic craze are derogatory to transgender people. The Respondent is identified as a nurse educator in the biographical footer at the end of the article.”
The panel did not, however, make a finding of professional misconduct in regards to Hamm’s posts on Twitter, now known as X, with the decision stating, “The Panel is not prepared to rely on the high-profile nature of the Respondent’s writings or her frequent references to her status as a nursing professional as to do so would effectively prevent her from making any public statements because they would automatically have a sufficient nexus to the profession of nursing.”
The legal saga began after Hamm, a Vancouver-area nurse, co-sponsored a billboard in September 2020 that read “I ❤️ JK Rowling,” the famed British author who has spoken out extensively on protecting women’s spaces. The billboard, which was up for 30 hours, was quickly removed after a Vancouver city councillor condemned it as transphobic and the advertising company pulled it. During its time up, the billboard was defaced with paintballs.