Scotland’s shame over gay and disabled rights

Dec 01 2006

The Scottish government has decided not to go ahead with amendments to hate crime laws to incorporate protection for lesbians, gay men and the disabled.

The decision has drawn much criticism, as the government promised to make the changes and has broken its word. The betrayal only came to light when Labour MP Susan Deacon put a direct question to Johann Lamon, the Scottish Deputy Justice Minister, who replied:

“We gave careful consideration to the working group’s recommendation and concluded the creation of a further statutory offence would work against our wider objective of improving consistency in sentencing.”

That has to be one of the most gaseous political statements to come from any UK minister, Scottish or otherwise, in quite some time. There’s simply no substance to the answer. It provides no real explanation as to why criminalising verbal and physical attacks on gay men, lesbians and the disabled would impact negatively on anything or anyone other than those lowlifes who believe it okay to call other people names, punch, kick, knife, beat, shoot, torture and kill them for being who they are.

Tim Hopkins of the Equality Network had this to say:

“This sends out completely the wrong message – it says the executive is not concerned about homophobic and disability-related crime. The four areas of hate crime – race, religion, sexual orientation and disability – are the areas where research shows a small number of perpetrators who target a large number of victims.”

I couldn’t put it better myself. The Scottish government does not wish to extend protection and rights to all its citizens.

This latest revelation should give pause for thought to those who believe gay people have achieved full equality. It isn’t true. The decision of the Scottish government should upset anyone of a decent disposition who believes every member of society, every human being, deserves equal treatment and opportunities. No matter whether we like them, agree with them or take issue with their lifestyles or opinions.

You can read more about this news story here, here and here.

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  • I'm a rebel with a cause. Lots of causes, in fact. And I've decided that while change is a constant, you won't find me fitting into anything other than open-minded libertarianism and freedom for all except those who lose the right to freedom by imposing themselves in any sense upon others without clear consent.

    The human spirit is a beautiful thing, as is the mind. Both should be free to fly unburdened by contrived expectations. x
  • You are so right in your last comment - individuals have never been under so much pressure to conform to externally imposed rules.
  • Those of us who are not driven by the opinions of others, who seek balance between work and personal life, who rally against impositions of state and employers, are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain themselves in the societies we are born into. That is only going to get worse, and it is no wonder to me that depression, anxiety, stress and many new disorders and disabilities are coming to the fore. The world some in the establishment are trying to create breaks many people. And they often stay broken. x
  • It's tied into the new fascists of the everything organic, those on the left whose behaviour is more akin to the traditional right - applauding bans on smoking, seeking to enforce lifestyle change through criminalisation, pushing for fat people to be denied NHS treatment...

    I'm all for people getting better healthier lifestyles but the quality of life needs to be maintained or such things are worse than meaningless. There is a move towards turning us all, and many are happy for it to happen, into drones. People without soul, aspiration, imagination. People who rush to judgement without thinking, just accepting what they see in the media. If multi-channel TV had existed in the 1930s and 1940s, Hitler would now be an ancient Emperor of the World. x
  • Howard, thank you again. I checked out homomojo.com. I hadn't heard of or seen it before your comment above, and it's a cool site. x

    Nicola, I agree. What you're effectively talking about observing is what many people are now calling the 'new puritanism'. Eliminate the weak, all must work in approved roles, fend for yourself, think of no-one but you and yours... All very 1984.... And, of course, Maggie Thatcher must be proud of the work that continues to be done covertly in her name and because of her legacy... x
  • This rejection of the flawed and imperfect ( In thier eyes) is one of the reasons I left the organised church, along with the denial of churchyard burial plots of un-baptised babies. But that is for another blog and another time.

    We seem as a society to be moving back to *eliminating the weak, the different, * we seem to be moving back to the days when discrimination was acceptable and backed up by law.
  • I just submitted this to homomojo.com so others could read this wonderful piece. Thanks, I'm not sure I would have heard about it otherwise.
  • I think the same can be said of many people. It's understandable. x
  • Sue
    It was this type of "religious" thinking that drove both of my parents into becoming Atheists.
  • Perhaps. But then, this is the Scottish Parliament, not the national one. While Brown is Scottish, he has no direct say in the running of Scottish affairs. Still, he may exert influence. So yes, perhaps indeed.

    I do suspect some religious involvement behind-the-scenes but then, while the homophobia is well known in many religious groups, disability prejudice? Having said that, back in the 80s during my brief and traumatic experience first-hand of born-again Christianity, the view was widely held in such circles that any disability, and they included homosexuality defined as such, stems from sin, providing outward sign of man's downfall from grace.

    Seriously.

    So, in the same way as they argue they love the sinner but hate the sin, they believe homosexuality and disability are burdens any given individual has to bear and designed by God to give us a sense of the burden His Son carried, namely the cross. Celibacy is the order of the day for gay people, endurance too, for gay people and the disabled.

    It's outrageous I know. I suppose some of us to their warped minds are 'more obviously tainted' than others by the sins of Adam and Eve... x
  • As a very cynical aside - do you think this might change if a certain future prime-ministers son does not fiar as well as expected with his condition?
  • Shame on them - especially today.

    Do you think this is a case of *religious* hatred ( bigotry) in action - ie are some of the more "religious" elements homophobic?

    I sometimes wish they could just walk a mile in other peoples shoes.

    My clients last weekend were a mixed race couple - she is English born of African descent - the amount of trouble and hassle she has even now ( from the police who constantly follow her, stop her for no reason etc ) is apalling. Was a bit of an eye opener for me.

    What was more scary is that she would quite like ID cards because she feels then they would stop hassling her.
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