Is making homophobic remarks an arrestable offence where you are?

[Clairelouise84]

There is a great deal of homophobia around as as my uncle told me two days ago "as long as there are morons, there will always be homophobes" but is it illegal to say homophobic things where you are and have you ever arrested anyone for such things?

 

[JoanMcWench]

Being a moron isn't illegal. Well, literally anyway. People say a lot of homophobic, racist, & disparaging things every day. There's not enough room in all the jails/prisons in all the world to house them. It also wouldn't get to the root of the problem. Ignorance leads to a lot of issues. Educating people is the solution.

 

[missbishi]

In the UK, making homphobic remarks is illegal under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. This covers most forms of hate speech, including that against race, religion, gender or disability. Such cases often make the national newspapers and judges do seem to delight in making an example of these people.

 

[Rainman]

Being a moron isn't illegal. Well, literally anyway. People say a lot of homophobic, racist, & disparaging things every day. There's not enough room in all the jails/prisons in all the world to house them. Educating people is the solution.

I agree that educating people would be the better solution but most bigots learn to be what they are from their parents. So as long as there are parents who are homophobic or racist the kids will also be homophobes and racists. I think fining those who make homophobic remarks would help a little bit.

Anyway where I live there you'll never see a same sex couple so obviously you'll never find anyone making homophobic remarks except in churches and the preachers usually get away with it anyway.

 

[dyanmarie25]

Here in my country, I don't know if you could get arrested by making homophobic remarks, but probably if you threaten someone who's homosexual, it can be held against you. Well, society is going to judge you no matter what your race, color, preferences, ideals, or beliefs are. Sadly, it's just the way the world is.

 

[Josie]

I agree that educating people would be the better solution but most bigots learn to be what they are from their parents. So as long as there are parents who are homophobic or racist the kids will also be homophobes and racists. I think fining those who make homophobic remarks would help a little bit.

Anyway where I live there you'll never see a same sex couple so obviously you'll never find anyone making homophobic remarks except in churches and the preachers usually get away with it anyway.

It still comes down to education. Fining parents won't change anything.. they'll go home and continue their tirade. But if they grow up with truths, the next generation will be that much better for it. Punishing people for speaking their mind will not help anything and is such a waste of time and money. Drives me nuts that people think everyone should be punished for every little thing now. Education is key to most issues today..

 

[Patrick]

It really depends on where you are and the context. People make sexist, racist and homophobic comments all the time, sometimes even on television or radio, but if they can wriggle out of it by arguing over the context of it, or apologizing for it as a slip of the tongue, they get away scot-free pretty often.

 

[Philosophydaddy]

Where I am making homophobic remarks is not enough to get you arrested. Though, and this isn't the case yet but, I think LGBT should be a protected class under federal hate crimes legislation. Speech is speech and so such remarks are protected as long as they aren't threatening, but I think harassment or assault of someone for being gay or lesbian needs to be a hate crime. (Don't mean to thread-jack if it seems like I am )

 

[Clairelouise84]

Being a moron isn't illegal. Well, literally anyway. People say a lot of homophobic, racist, & disparaging things every day. There's not enough room in all the jails/prisons in all the world to house them. It also wouldn't get to the root of the problem. Ignorance leads to a lot of issues. Educating people is the solution.

Ha ha sadly it is not illegal, I know a few people that I would arrest if it were! No, you are right that there is not enough room and not enough resources but I think hate speech should be taken a lot more seriously than it is. I think you can try and educate people, but some people do not want to be educated and would prefer to live in their comfortable bubble of ignorance and hatred

 

[Clairelouise84]

I have seen people making hateful remarks about race or religion be prosecuted under the racial and religious hatred act but I have never seen anyone be arrested or prosecuted under the public order act which is a little bit sad as I have experienced a great deal of abuse from street preachers.

 

[Clairelouise84]

I agree, they either pass it off as a joke and say "people need to get a sense of humour" or they make a contribution or appearance to the appropriate community and it has gone away. Two prime examples of that are Katie Hopkins and Jeremy Clarkson, but at least Clarkson apologises, even if it is under duress!

 

[lushlala]

I HATE any kind of bigotry and like the UK's legal stance on this. Sadly, it varies depending on where you are in the world. I'm not sure if spewing a lot of homophobic s*** at someone would land you in prison in Botswana, because homosexuality is still illegal here. Yes, really! However, if you attacked a gay person physically, you risk falling on the wrong side of the law, not that their being gay would have any bearing on the case. It's a very curios situation in Botswana. We have gay people just like elsewhere around the world, and even though it's illegal, as long as you don't do do your business in public, nobody bothers you. It's almost like the law against homosexuality is all for show, because not only are we an African state, we are a Christian state. So we can't be seen to be endorsing homosexuality. It's just weird.

 

[Josie]

Ha ha sadly it is not illegal, I know a few people that I would arrest if it were! No, you are right that there is not enough room and not enough resources but I think hate speech should be taken a lot more seriously than it is. I think you can try and educate people, but some people do not want to be educated and would prefer to live in their comfortable bubble of ignorance and hatred

Sadly, if people don't want to be educated, that's their right. When we start forcing people into education/prison, for not being like the majority, it's a slippery slope. Our rights are slowly being stripped away because of it and we barely notice anymore. People are allowed to be hateful bigots.. the laws will jump in when their hate becomes a danger.

 

[Gabe]

I HATE any kind of bigotry and like the UK's legal stance on this. Sadly, it varies depending on where you are in the world. I'm not sure if spewing a lot of homophobic s*** at someone would land you in prison in Botswana, because homosexuality is still illegal here. Yes, really! However, if you attacked a gay person physically, you risk falling on the wrong side of the law, not that their being gay would have any bearing on the case. It's a very curios situation in Botswana. We have gay people just like elsewhere around the world, and even though it's illegal, as long as you don't do do your business in public, nobody bothers you. It's almost like the law against homosexuality is all for show, because not only are we an African state, we are a Christian state. So we can't be seen to be endorsing homosexuality. It's just weird.

It's a good point to make that homosexuality is still illegal in other countries and tourists and travelers should respect this and not impose their views. The best thing is to be neutral and politically correct, however some gay people like to promote their sexuality which can make people uncomfortable. My best friends are gay and they are very vocal to a point where they expect people to accept them regardless of their views.

People should be more aware of what they say and sensitive and as they say sometimes silence is golden.

 

[missbishi]

Where I am making homophobic remarks is not enough to get you arrested. Though, and this isn't the case yet but, I think LGBT should be a protected class under federal hate crimes legislation. Speech is speech and so such remarks are protected as long as they aren't threatening, but I think harassment or assault of someone for being gay or lesbian needs to be a hate crime. (Don't mean to thread-jack if it seems like I am )

It certainly is a hate crime where I am and hopefully, more and more countries will follow suit in the future. Hate speech isn't always threatening, sometimes it can be very subtle indeed.