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Extending protection to Britain’s 3.6 million lesbian and gay people

Tackling incitement to hatred

Monday, 17 March 2008

Stonewall are standing fast and hard to ensure the current Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill includes much-need measures to help protect lesbian and gay people in Britain from hatred and violence . This is legislation that effects us all and on reading the briefing Stonewall have presented to the House Of Lords it becomes clear why. Clause 126 and Schedule 26 may not sound the most life changing of items but if they are not included in the amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, currently being debated in the House Of Lords, our lives as lesbians and gay men could be very different.

Stonewall’s briefing makes essential reading. “Stonewall believes that a new offence of incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation would help to tackle extremists who currently stir up hatred and violence against lesbians and gay men. The effects of this activity are demonstrated in the increasing number of homophobic attacks taking place across Britain. A new offence is much needed and will help mitigate that violence. The Crown Prosecution Service has recently confirmed that successful prosecutions for homophobic hate crimes have increased by 167% in the past two years. Those prosecutions included that of the killers of Jody Dobrowski, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006 for the 24-year old’s brutal murder in south London. Both the police and the CPS acknowledged that the murder was motivated solely by anti-gay hatred.”

Stonewall go on to illustrate why we need the Lords to support Clause 126 and Schedule 26. “The examples below illustrate types of material currently in circulation which are clearly designed to inflame hate towards the gay community. When extremists spread messages like these, they provoke verbal and physical attacks. A new offence of incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation would help to limit the consequences of this hatred.

Song lyrics. Violently homophobic lyrics in some reggae and rap songs urge the torture and murder of lesbians and gay men. No legal action can currently be taken to prevent the sale or distribution of such material in Britain. The following typical lyrics are from songs currently available to buy in Britain from websites such as www.amazon.co.uk;” Roll deep motherf**ka, kill p***y-sucker” [lesbians], “Tek a Bazooka [rocket-launcher] and kill batty-f***er” [gay men], “Hang chi chi gal wid a long piece of rope” [Hang lesbians with a long piece of rope], “Guy come near we” [If a man comes near me] then his skin must peel, burn him up bad like an old tyre wheel.”

Homophobic websites. A Lancashire man, the elected chair of a local branch of Conservative Future, recently set up a page on the social networking website Facebook called ‘Homos Burn in Hell.’ Facebook has 8.5 million users in the UK. Featuring an image of a hooded Ku Klux Klan member next to a burning cross, the page carried the legend: ‘I do not advocate homophobia - I prefer to call them AIDS monkeys.’ www.christianvoice.org.uk and www.gayconspiracy.co.uk are two current examples of UK websites which stir up hatred against Britain’s lesbian and gay community. Christian Voice speaks of ‘young people who are being drawn into a lifestyle characterised by disease, degradation, death and denial.’ The Gay Conspiracy site links homosexuality with paedophilia and claims that one in five people in same-sex relationships are raped by their partners.

Political campaign material. Extreme political parties continue to try to foment hatred against the gay community by associating homosexuality with paedophilia. Recent BNP campaign literature distributed to voters on a housing estate in North Wales featured photographs of child murder victims and claimed that a majority vote by mainstream parties to equalise the age of consent indicated that MPs were “trying to legalise child sex step by step”. A number of National Front websites have been brought to our attention which provoke hatred of gay people. Such material, deliberately presenting inflammatory myths and misconceptions as fact, creates great fear and undermines community cohesion.”

They conclude their briefing by stating “Changing the law would go some way towards addressing the hatred and violence directed towards lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in Britain at a time when homophobic attacks are on the increase. Just like race, a person’s sexual orientation is an intrinsic characteristic for which no citizen in a civilised society should ever feel under threat of verbal or physical violence. New legislation would act as a strong deterrent to those who currently incite such hatred and violence. The Bill in its current form presents an opportunity to extend valuable, proportionate protections to Britain’s 3.6 million lesbian and gay people.” Day to day life can make parliament seem far removed. The forthcoming criminal justice and immigration bill is anything but that.

To read more, follow the bills progress and to register your support visit www.stonewall.org.uk/campaigns/1961.asp