Hate Speech and the Law

[BlytheByName]

I saw an article somewhere on the Internet this morning about hate speech, misgendering and potential prison sentences. The headline alone alarmed me but I wasn't free at the time to read it. Now I'd like to read it, but can't see anything like it here or on twitter. I've retraced my steps but's like looking for a needle in a cyber haystack...
Does it ring any bells with anyone?

In the meantime, what is the law on misgendering?

This article doesn't mention misgendering but I think it's probably about the same proposals as the article you saw:

www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-11/uk-proposes-prison-time-offensive-online-posts

Do you have a link to the page? Ideally a reliable website, too suspicious of fake news these days.

The link in the article seems to be genuine, although it looks like it's a proposal for consultation, rather than something that's already being implemented. I haven't had chance to have a proper read through to see how accurately the above article reflects the Sentencing Council's proposals:

www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/6.4328_Public_Order_Offences_Guideleines_Consultation_web.pdf

Don't know about hate speech and the criminal law, but under the Equality Act 2010, which most organisations providing services etc are bound by, misgendering can be 'unlawful harassment'.

Harassment is 'unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, (gender reassignment) which;

has the purpose or effect of—
(i)violating B's dignity, or
(ii)creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for B.

importantly, In deciding whether conduct has the effect above, the perception of B must be taken into account, and whether it's reasonable for B to feel that way..

Any public institution is under the 'public sector equality duty' which means they have to promote good relations between groups - i.e. take reasonable steps to stop people from being harassed.

Gender reassignment has a specific definition on the act - you have to be undergoing or proposing to undergo a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning your sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex. - so i'm not sure who that actually covers - i guess social transition could be covered?

So those aren't personal duties unless you're at work, but they do have the effect of regulating a lot of behaviour and policy etc.. in loads of places..

Links here anyway

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/7
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/26
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/149

Ah here - Criminal offences of harassment - sections 4A and 5 Public Order Act 1986 - not sure whether these have been tested in relation to 'misgendering' though. there's an Art 10 ECHR protection for freedom of speech though obviously, so I guess that's a defence.

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64

These any use?

UK Parliament Women and Equalities Committee 2015:

279.Further, under the Equality Act 2010, all organisations (including employers and public bodies, such as the NHS) must respect a trans person’s acquired / affirmed gender and any associated change of name. Failure to change pronouns, names and gender markers (including honorifics and pronouns) on records in respect of a trans person would (with a few exceptions)281 constitute unlawful direct discrimination under the Act.

280.Despite these clear legal principles governing records in respect of trans people, we heard significant evidence that trans people encounter problems with “misgendering” (failure to acknowledge a person’s acquired / affirmed gender) and “deadnaming” (failure to acknowledge a person’s change of name) in many situations.
publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmwomeq/390/39009.htm

Equality and Human Rights Commission:

Harassment is when someone makes you feel humiliated, offended or degraded because you are transsexual.

For example a transsexual woman is having a drink in a pub with friends. The landlord keeps calling her ‘Sir’ and ‘he’ when serving drinks, despite her complaining about it.
Harassment can never be justified. However, if an organisation or employer can show it did everything it could to prevent people who work for it from behaving like that, you will not be able to make a claim for harassment against it, although you could make a claim against the harasser.
www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/gender-reassignment-discrimination

Thank you all. That reading should keep me going for a few nights!

it's a good question! the reading's really distracting! while we're here on law - Shon Faye has said (apparently) in relation to the changes to the GRA that

'Spaces that are currently segregated by sex, including women’s prisons and refuges, would still be able to make risk assessments and exclude potentially dangerous individuals, she argued. “If there is evidence that a person is a potential risk it is appropriate to exclude them,” she said. “What it is not appropriate to do is exclude someone for identifying as trans.”

I've only seen exemptions for sport, parenthood, and gender specific crime in the GRA 2004 - otherwise a person with a GRC should be treated 'for all purposes' as a person of their adopted gender - does anyone know what the truth is about that? Would prisons etc.. be able to make 'case by case' decisions or not?

thanks

Under the Equality Act it sounds like misogyny is also an advocate fence if it makes a woman feel degraded and so on. Forcing me to talk a male person a female is intensely disgracing to me.

Advocate fence = offence

We can all tell them what we think in that consultation, right? TRA will be spamming them. Let's all write too.

yes. It's all really tricky. Personally I'd still call people what they want to be called on a case by case basis providing it doesn't then presuppose resulting (unreasonable) 'rights' and demands. I think you'd struggle to defend actual targeted harassment (of someone who hadn't done anything to invite it) but could probably justify 'misgendering' where the rights/demands thing was the issue at hand.. if that makes sense. Like if someone was saying women shouldn't centre reproductive rights in women's marches for example, or defending a charge of battery against a woman in court etc..

yes - cross posts - we should definitely all write too.

I should have the right to call a man, a man, without going to prison.

Words fail. It's a proposal for a fucking police state where thought crime and speaking the truth would be illegal. Because you can bet that woolly language could be stretched to mean absolutely everything and we already know transphobia basically means 'anything anyone says is'.

Stop the fucking world, I want to get off.

Oh and love the 'likelihood of influencing people'.

Like sharing facts, statistics and proposed legislation about how women in the UK are sleepwalking into their legal rights being removed, which could potentially lead to some of those women not being happy about it.

Which messes up the big agenda so obviously can't be allowed.

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5707039/amp/Sharing-hate-posts-online-lead-six-months-jail.html

Was it this? Sorry for the daily fail link!

Interesting concluding question in the DM article:
"Professor Glees said the cases involving Greer and Tatchell could lead to confusion.

He said: ‘Are these social critics guilty of hate speech for asking awkward questions about gender interest groups? Or are those who attack them the true guilty ones?"