stephanie
10-08-2007, 02:39 PM
Last updated at 19:15pm on 8th October 2007
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The Government is to make it a crime to incite hatred against gay people, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced tonight.
The move to outlaw inciting homophobic hatred comes after ministers moved to criminalise such activity on religious grounds earlier this year.
Today's announcement could cause a row over free speech, as the Government experienced over the religious hate crime measures.
Anyone convicted of the offence, which follows the introduction of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act, faces up to seven years in jail.
The penalties for inciting sexual hatred are likely to be the same.
Scroll down for more...
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Jim Davidson axed from Hell's Kitchen after calling gay Brian a 'shirt-lifter'
Firemen demoted and fined for shining torch on gay foursome in the bushes
Mr Straw said: "It is a measure of how far we have come as a society in the last 10 years that we are now appalled by hatred and invective directed at people on the basis of their sexuality.
"It is time for the law to recognise this."
He said it would cover gay men, lesbians and bisexual people.
The move comes a month after Comedian Jim Davidson was axed from ITV's celebrity cooking show Hell's Kitchen for insulting homosexuals.
The 53-year-old controversial entertainer was asked to leave by programme-makers for homophobic comments, which saw him brand gay men "shirt-lifters".
Davidson left the nightly reality show after a series of rows with former Big Brother winner Brian Dowling, who is openly gay.
And last week a group of firemen who shone their torches at four men engaged in illegal 'dogging' - outdoor sexual activity with strangers - were demoted and fined £1,000 by their bosses after being accused of being homophobic.
After embarrassing the men by pointing their torches at them in parkland known as the Downs in Bristol, the crew continued on their way to their fire station.
But one of the 'doggers' complained to Avon Fire and Rescue, ultimately accusing the four-man crew of being homophobic.
Today Jack Straw said he would listen to views on whether the incitement offence should be further extended to cover hatred against disabled and transgendered people, and would proceed "if a case can be made".
Jack Straw: It is a measure of how far we have come as a society
In another new measure, police and probation will be expected to notify members of the public if a sex offender poses a risk to children.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "The presumption will be that the authorities will disclose information if they consider that an offender presents a risk of serious harm to a child."
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "We are committed to protecting children from sexual predators and the proposals being laid out today will strengthen that protection.
"The UK already has the strongest restrictions on child sex offenders and these proposals which follow on from the publication of the Child Sex Offenders Review earlier this year will help us to continue doing all we can to protect them."
Mr Straw told MPs the moves would be made as amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.
In a further amendment, criminals on the sex offenders register will be required to provide extra information to the police, including information about email addresses, about new relationships with any woman who has children, and whether they are living in the same house as anyone under 18.
The law against inciting religious hatred came into force at the start of this month.
It closed a gap in race legislation that meant only Jews and Sikhs, who were deemed by the courts to be racial groups, were protected.
Other groups like Muslims and Christians were considered to be religious rather than racial so were thought not to have the same protection under the law.
When first proposed the religious hate crime legislation was heavily criticised by some groups who believed it could outlaw people such as comedians making jokes at religion's expense.
Blackadder and Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson was among those who warned that such measures risked undermining the freedom of satirists, comedians and writers, and legitimate discussion about religion and religious practices.
There were two attempts by the Government to introduce it, first in 2001 and then later with the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act. They faltered because of the concerns.
read the rest and comments at..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=486452&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&ct=5&expand=true#StartComments
Comments (13)
The Government is to make it a crime to incite hatred against gay people, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced tonight.
The move to outlaw inciting homophobic hatred comes after ministers moved to criminalise such activity on religious grounds earlier this year.
Today's announcement could cause a row over free speech, as the Government experienced over the religious hate crime measures.
Anyone convicted of the offence, which follows the introduction of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act, faces up to seven years in jail.
The penalties for inciting sexual hatred are likely to be the same.
Scroll down for more...
Jim Davidson was axed from Celebrity Hell's Kitchen for branding Brian Dowling a 'shirt-lifter'
Read more...
Jim Davidson axed from Hell's Kitchen after calling gay Brian a 'shirt-lifter'
Firemen demoted and fined for shining torch on gay foursome in the bushes
Mr Straw said: "It is a measure of how far we have come as a society in the last 10 years that we are now appalled by hatred and invective directed at people on the basis of their sexuality.
"It is time for the law to recognise this."
He said it would cover gay men, lesbians and bisexual people.
The move comes a month after Comedian Jim Davidson was axed from ITV's celebrity cooking show Hell's Kitchen for insulting homosexuals.
The 53-year-old controversial entertainer was asked to leave by programme-makers for homophobic comments, which saw him brand gay men "shirt-lifters".
Davidson left the nightly reality show after a series of rows with former Big Brother winner Brian Dowling, who is openly gay.
And last week a group of firemen who shone their torches at four men engaged in illegal 'dogging' - outdoor sexual activity with strangers - were demoted and fined £1,000 by their bosses after being accused of being homophobic.
After embarrassing the men by pointing their torches at them in parkland known as the Downs in Bristol, the crew continued on their way to their fire station.
But one of the 'doggers' complained to Avon Fire and Rescue, ultimately accusing the four-man crew of being homophobic.
Today Jack Straw said he would listen to views on whether the incitement offence should be further extended to cover hatred against disabled and transgendered people, and would proceed "if a case can be made".
Jack Straw: It is a measure of how far we have come as a society
In another new measure, police and probation will be expected to notify members of the public if a sex offender poses a risk to children.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "The presumption will be that the authorities will disclose information if they consider that an offender presents a risk of serious harm to a child."
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "We are committed to protecting children from sexual predators and the proposals being laid out today will strengthen that protection.
"The UK already has the strongest restrictions on child sex offenders and these proposals which follow on from the publication of the Child Sex Offenders Review earlier this year will help us to continue doing all we can to protect them."
Mr Straw told MPs the moves would be made as amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.
In a further amendment, criminals on the sex offenders register will be required to provide extra information to the police, including information about email addresses, about new relationships with any woman who has children, and whether they are living in the same house as anyone under 18.
The law against inciting religious hatred came into force at the start of this month.
It closed a gap in race legislation that meant only Jews and Sikhs, who were deemed by the courts to be racial groups, were protected.
Other groups like Muslims and Christians were considered to be religious rather than racial so were thought not to have the same protection under the law.
When first proposed the religious hate crime legislation was heavily criticised by some groups who believed it could outlaw people such as comedians making jokes at religion's expense.
Blackadder and Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson was among those who warned that such measures risked undermining the freedom of satirists, comedians and writers, and legitimate discussion about religion and religious practices.
There were two attempts by the Government to introduce it, first in 2001 and then later with the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act. They faltered because of the concerns.
read the rest and comments at..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=486452&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&ct=5&expand=true#StartComments