Proud of liberalism; hostile to hate

4 July-August  July-August  PB

HE CASE for gay rights, pioneered in the

1980s in this country by David Norris

through the courts and the European Con-

vention on Human Rights, is unanswerable.

Everyone has the option – philosophically

– to believe the equality of gays or to deny it. But the

fact is that if people choose – politically i.e. in prac-

tice - to be oended by what others get up to where

no nuisance is caused to third parties, there would

be no end to the asymmetrical busybodinesses that

would undermine public and individual welfare. For

this reason society is best served by freedom for con-

senting adults to exercise whatever sexual

preferences fulﬁl them.

But it’s easy to be smug. As Dublin overﬂowed with

pride in mid-June other countries were not so

self-conﬁdent.

In May, Uganda introduced the death penalty for

“aggravated homosexuality”. Russian authorities

have been banning Pride eventsfor years in order not

to promote LGBTQ+ lifestyle to children. Former

Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov also labelled Pride

‘satanic’. This year, 40 Turkish Pride activists were

detained after they deﬁed a ban to stage a march in

Istanbul a month after Turkey’s homophobic and

hate-ﬁlled election campaign. The celebrations in

Houston, the largest pride event in conserva-

tiveTexas, were scaled back due to rising insurance

and security costs, as Texas lawmakers prepared bills

banning youngsters from drag shows and restricting

how they learn about the LGBTQ+ community; and

restricting gender-arming healthcare.

Pride planners across theUSand Canada said they

were facing higher bills because of anti-LGBTQ+dis-

information and hatred; and many events were

cancelled. Prominent members of the US Supreme

Court have expressed scepticism about deriving

LGBTQ+ rights from the Constitution.

But the principles inherent in decriminalisation and

celebration of LGBTQ+ politics and culture should ani-

mate greater tolerance and enthusiasm for others

who exercise preferences contrary to those of the

majority, and to vulnerable minorities. Village has no

time for a la carte egalitarianism. You cannot be pro-

LGBTQ+ but anti-Traveller.

Against that background this magazine asserts its

strong support for Trans people, the latest target of

discrimination and hatred, particularly online. If

someone wishes to change their gender that is their

business. Issues like Trans’ advantages in sport and

female changing rooms can be dealt with forensically

and sensibly. They do not cut across the overriding

principle for society that the majority should not

interfere with a minority that is doing no harm.

So, if this government has done little else that

appeals to this magazine, we commend its

determined backing of new Hate Legislation currently

nearing passsage by the Seanad. The Criminal Jus-

tice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate

Oences) Bill 2022 will amend the law on the prohi-

bition of incitement to violence or hatred against a

person or a group of persons on account of certain

characteristics: (a) race, (b) colour, (c) nationality, (d)

religion, (e) national or ethnic origin, (f) descent, (g)

gender, (h) sex characteristics, (i) sexual orientation,

or (j) disability.

In our experience, however, many of the diculties

in enforcing Hate crimes at the moment – under the

Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 — derive

from inadequate training and enthusiasm from the

Garda in pursuing those who harass or abuse others

because of characteristics like race or gender. A

changed ethos will be necessary.

There has been dissent: some malicious, some

thoughtful. Concerns have been expressed that Hate

has not been deﬁned. People Before Proﬁt want the

legislation to specify “intimidation, hostility or dis-

crimination”. However, the judiciary is at least as well

placed to ascertain the context and nuance of the

motivation behind Hate Crimes as the legislature;

perhaps marginally better placed because complex-

ity requires discretion.

And the usual suspects are up in arms that the leg-

islation opens up the current binary of gender, so

risking the prosecution of those who, for example,

assert basic gender simplicities. But in fact it is not

the assertion of the simplicities that grounds a crime.

It is the provocative assertion of them in ways that

intimidate or humiliate. The Bill requires “intent [or

recklessness] to incite violence or hatred against

such a person or group of persons on account of those

characteristics”. Irish people should reﬂect on the

fact that advertising ‘No dogs, No Irish’ should have

been a crime.

Concern has also been expressed that the legisla-

tion opens up the possibility of a person “being

criminalised purely for having material that is hateful,

without that material being communicated to the

public”. But the Bill makes it clear that the material

must have been “made available on a platform that

is or may be accessible by the public or a section of

the public” and that, only then, will there be a pre-

sumption, that can be rebutted, “that the person

intended to communicate the material to the public

or a section of the public”.

In short most of the objections to the Bill are illu-

sory. Few of them are oered by the vulnerable

people who have asked for its protections.

We live in a world of increasing economic inequal-

ity but in this country we are moving against the

tyranny of the majority imposing its mores on vulner-

able minorities. It is progress worth ﬁghting for.

EDITORIAL

Issue 80

July-August 2023

Chllenging he endemiclly

complcen nd ohers by

he cue promoion of

equliy, susinbiliy nd

ccounbiliy

ONLINE

www.villgemgzine.ie

@VillgeMgIRE

EDITOR

Michel Smih

edior@villgemgzine.ie

DEPUTY EDITOR

J Vivin Cooke

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION

Lenny Rooney

ADVERTISING

sles@villge.ie

PRINTERS

Boylns, Droghed,

Co Louh

VILLAGE IS PUBLISHED BY

Ormond Quy Publishing

 Ormond Quy Upper,

Dublin 

Proud of liberalism; hostile to hate