Thursday, October 25, 2018
Switzerland Votes to Criminalize Homophobia and 'Hate Speech'
Switzerland has voted to make it illegal to be homophobic or discriminate against anyone in the LGBTQ community.
The National Council, which is the lower house in Switzerland's legislature, voted 118 - 60 in favor of a law that says anyone guilty of homophobia will face heavy fines or up to three years in prison.
"I tabled the motion after speaking to friends of mine who have personally been victims of verbal and physical homophobic violence," Mathias Reynard, a member of the Swiss Socialist Party told ShortList.
Reynard spearheaded the new law and called it a "great success for human rights."
The law criminalizes "physical violence" and "verbal violence" against LGBT people. Reynard never makes clear what "verbal violence" actually means, but says it's a crime punishable by law.
"Homophobia is not an opinion. It's a crime. One in five homosexuals attempted suicide, half before the age of 20. This victory sends a strong signal. I have already received hundreds of reactions," he said after the vote.
"And working on this law I found out that the Swiss case-law doesn't punish either hate speech or incitement to hatred towards LGBT+ people. During the last few years, this loophole in the law has been pointed out several times at an international level," he told ShortList. "To me, it is a matter of human rights and of living well together.
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8 comments:
Why should normal people accommodate those with twisted minds ?
Liberaisms a mental disorder cuased by watching too many news broadcasts watching CNN and reading the NYT's and eating a totaly vegan diet
It seems from the article that being homophobic isn't outlawed, just actions taken to express homophobia are to be punished.
As usual with such laws, just what constitutes violating them isn't clearly defined.
"Physical violence" and "verbal violence" are outlawed.
It would seem physical violence would be fairly obvious. But is it? Would physical violence necessitate actual contact with the person. Or would turning away in disgust at two men kissing constitute physical violence? After all, just walking away is a physical act. Perhaps carrying a banner stating opposition to same-sex marriage is a physical as well as a verbal act. Who knows?
Verbal violence is even more subjective and less defined. If someone uses the word 'fag' or 'queer' in conversation is that verbal violence? If a minister quote biblical references to homosexuality or lesbianism is that verbal violence? Or does it take direct, in-your-face slurs or comments to an LGBT person?
The real danger in such laws is their ambiguity. Those who write and pass them may have their hearts in the right place, but as usual speak with emotion instead of rational thought. And so do not give concrete guidelines, but leave it up to individuals to decide if an action constitutes physical or verbal violence. Much as it up to the whim of a woman to decide if being asked for intimacy is an invitation or an assault.
Last thought: From the article - "Homophobia is not an opinion. It's a crime." It is tiring to see 'phobia' misused. Homophobia is fear of homosexuals. Disagreeing with acceptance of homosexuals and homosexual sex isn't fear of it. If a person is homophobic, that is, he or she is actually afraid of homosexuals, how can that be a crime"? One might as well claim that one who is claustrophobic is guilty of a crime. (Rant over)
Switzerland already had a law which imprisoned people for being sceptical of holocaust propaganda so I am not surprised by this at all.
https://codoh.com/library/document/335/
Surely there is already a law in Switzerland which punishes people for "physical violence"?
Why is more protection than that necessary?
As for "verbal violence", there is no such thing.
"Hate Crime" laws stem from the belief that if I kill you because I want your money and you're refusing to give it to me, you are less dead than if I kill you because I don't like you for being some member of a "class" of people. "Motivation" for a crime requires being able to know the thoughts of the accused AT THE TIME OF THE CRIME. Now it is true that we have given "crimes of passion" less punishment in the past than "premeditated, cold blooded" crimes. Now we're saying that perpetrators of "crimes of passion" are MORE culpable. Just another example of the degradation of rational thought in our society.
Well said Stan.
The word Homophobia is a misnomer, I am not afraid of or have fear of Homosexuals, the same with Islamophobia. These words are misused in context.
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