Government's "homophobic law" is no gay thing

Going out at night seeking to cause physical harm to someone just because you have a hatred of their sexual behaviour is something that should rightly be outlawed in a civilised society. Shouting abuse at someone is equally disgusting as is encouraging others to cause injury or mayhem. Public order should have public decency as it core.

However, discussing the issue of sexuality or professing a distate or disagreement with the behaviour or lifestyle of homosexuals should not be a criminal matter. Free speech allows for vigorous debate so long as that is all it is. My concern with the government's Coroners and Justice Bill is that it seems to outlaw criticism of lifestyle and allows the police to be initial arbiters of the content of debate.

Currently, the police are happy to arrest people who have written or said things stridently, either for publication or in a public place. It is apparent that the driving force of New Labour in this respect is to make the public understand that homosexuality and heterosexuality are of an equal nature and therefore must be held by everyone as such. This approach is a kind of thought police 1984 reasoning. It will backfire on them.

I am totally opposed to snide remarks about anyone. It hardly merits reasoned agreement. Being distasteful and hurtful is always wrong. But to suggest that a sincerely held view must be witheld from discussion because it is likely to offend is to deny free speech and to enter the realms of the censored society.