If you’re concerned about the overreach of hate speech laws, then you only need to look overseas to see that your fears are quite legitimate. A 16-year-old British girl with autism was taken into custody recently after committing the heinous crime…. of saying a police officer looked like a lesbian, just like her nana (who is actually ‘married’ to a woman). And a Christian preacher in the US was arrested after protesting a Pride event. He argued that the protection of children’s innocence is paramount and therefore drag queen events – particularly those with sexual dancing – should never be a place for children. This is now ‘hate speech’.
TRANSCRIPT:
If you’re concerned about the overreach of hate speech laws, then you only need to look overseas to see that your fears are quite legitimate.
A 16-year-old British girl with autism was taken into custody earlier this week after committing the heinous crime…. of saying a police officer looked like a lesbian.
The girl’s mother from Leeds uploaded a video to TikTok showing seven West Yorkshire Police officers entering their home and dragging the autistic girl away for a “homophobic public order offense.” Police had initially driven the girl home after her sister alerted them because she was concerned the autistic girl was acting in “unsafe ways.” – ironically at the city’s Gay Pride celebration. The drunken teenager, who had been giggling in the police car was then driven back to her home address by police because her older sister was concerned for her safety. Upon arriving at her home, the 16 year old made a comment about one of the female officers escorting her.
What did she say that amounted to hate speech that would warrant arrest?
The 16 year old said the female officer ‘was a lesbian like her nana’. In fact, her nana is a lesbian, married to a woman. So it was a factual statement. She didn’t even imply it was bad to be a lesbian, in any way.
Here’s what the arrest looked like. You’ll see the policewoman who’s upset, the mother trying to protect her, and the upset 16 year old cowering in the corner. Remember this is a 16 year old autistic girl. The mother, who goes by Nikita Snow on social media, said her daughter ran and hid under the stairs and began apologizing to the officer, but the female officer insisted that the teenager would be placed under arrest.
Remember this is an autistic 16 year old who simply said about a policewoman “she looks like a lesbian”.
Seven officers ended up arresting her. That’s police priority in the UK apparently.
Police kept her daughter in custody for 20 hours. The young girl was finally released “pending further inquiries and advice from the Crown Prosecution Service,” police said. The statement acknowledged that she was arrested “on suspicion of a homophobic public order offense.”
After a massive uproar, the police confirmed it will take no further action against the teenager and released her from her bail, although a review of the arrest by West Yorkshire Police’s Professional Standards Directorate is ongoing.
That’s the UK. Then there’s a recent example from the US
A Christian preacher who was arrested after protesting a Pride event in Watertown, Wisconsin, spoke out about the experience at a city council meeting Wednesday.
Marcus Schroeder belongs to the Christian preacher group Warriors for Christ. He argued that the protection of children’s innocence is paramount and therefore drag queen events – particularly those with sexual dancing – should never be a place for children.
The arrest occurred recently as he was evangelizing scripture passages at the city’s purportedly family-friendly “Pride in the Park” event, which featured drag queens wearing lingerie reading books, and a dance performance.
According to a video of the incident, Schroeder used a microphone while reading from a Bible when officers surrounded him and grabbed his equipment as he was stating, “Love thy neighbour as yourself.” It was explained at the time that he was being arrested for violating a sound ordinance about noise amplification.
Schroeder reacted to the incident, stating, “All I did was read from Scripture on the sidewalk.”
Schroeder was released with a warning. He later spoke to the city council about what had happened
Could this happen in NZ?
The government’s proposed hate speech law which they put on ice recently but will be sure to reintroduce if they form the next government after the election means you would break the law by being threatening, abusive or insulting. So you could potentially commit a criminal offence simply by insulting someone who belongs a ‘protected groups’. The proposed law also seeks to expand the above list of protected groups to include gender identity, to “clarify the protections for trans, gender diverse and intersex people”. This will include “gender expression and gender identity”. This means any speech deemed offensive to transgender people could be considered a criminal act punishable with fines or imprisonment.
There are only 2 sexes. What is a woman. Only women can get pregnant. All deemed hateful. I mean they already are, aren’t they. We can’t even get a full page advertisement asking “what is a woman?”
And note that the ‘protected’ groups tend to be those which progressive left-leaning “woke” people want to protect. Why only those groups? Aren’t all humans hurt by hate, regardless of their group membership? Will Christians be a protected group?
Political activists and special interest groups will miss the important distinction between hate-speech, and merely speech they hate, and end up using such laws as tools of political intimidation to punish opponents and shut down debate in the marketplace of ideas.
Read up more on this issue – hatespeech.nz
National and ACT opposed hate speech laws. Labour, Greens and Te Pati Maori voted for them. Keep that in mind.
