THE BISHOP of Newcastle has supported Government plans to toughen up the law preventing the stirring-up of hatred against homosexuals.Under the Government’s Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, it would become an offence to use threatening words or behaviour with the intent of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Opponents of the provision have argued that it will prevent some Christians from expressing their views of homosexuality.
In the House of Lords on Monday, April 21, Tory former Home Secretary Lord Waddington proposed an amendment to the Bill stating that “the discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred.”
The Government opposed the change on the grounds that the Bill already allowed for the exemption and that a court would already have to prove the strong case that words had been threatening and designed to stir up hatred.
The Rt Rev Martin Wharton told peers: “If we take the view that the definition of the offence is both sufficiently clear and narrow and the word used is threatening -- not insulting, not abusive, but threatening -- and if the Bill already meets concerns about possible loss of freedom of expression, that makes the amendment unnecessary.
“If, on the other hand, the argument is that the amendment will not do any harm and it conceivably might do some good in protecting freedom of expression, it can be entertained for two reasons.
“The first is that it would give some protection from petty harassment by overzealous police officers investigating vexatious complaints, as indeed has happened.
“Secondly, it can be argued that the amendment would be helpful in meeting concerns about the so-called chilling effect of the Bill on free speech and expressions of opinion.”
But he concluded that, on balance, the amendment would be better as guidance to the Bill.
Lord Waddington argued that under the existing legislation police had overstretched their powers and the change was needed to prevent people expressing views critical of homosexual lifestyles facing harassment from the police.
Bishop Wharton opposed the amendment, but it was passed by 81 votes to 57.
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