Scotland’s new hate crime law isn’t a threat to free speech – it could save my life
‘Maybe you should try killing yourself.’
‘You’re a paedophile that supports the mutilation of children.’
‘Cancer is becoming airborne.’
‘I miss it when people like you were put into mental asylums where they belong.’
These are just a selection of the abusive messages and comments I receive on a daily basis and all because of something I can’t change – the fact that I’m trans.
Sadly, these aren’t even the worst ones I’ve received. A few comments have been so truly horrific that my partner and I have seriously considered reporting them to the police.
However, despite recognising transgender identity as one of five protected characteristics alongside race and religion under hate crime law, the criminal law in England and Wales does not appear to treat all those characteristics equally, meaning my complaints have never gone anywhere.
Thankfully though that does look like it’s beginning to change in other parts of the UK.
On April 1, the Scottish Government is set to bring into force a new hate crime legislation which supporters say aims to ‘make Scotland a more tolerant society’. And I, for one, celebrate moves like this.
The legislation will essentially ‘criminalise threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred against someone purely because of who they are’.
It lists age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variation of sex (also known as intersex) characteristics as the groups that would get protection under the law.
To me, this can only be a good thing and moves us one step closer to creating a society where people cannot abuse and whip up hatred under the guise of ‘free speech’.
Naturally though, it’s this supposed ‘threat’ to free speech that has certain online personalities so riled up.
It’s been incredibly frustrating (though not entirely surprising) to see the likes of Elon Musk and J.K. Rowling imply this new law is some gross violation of their rights.
Let’s be clear. Freedom of speech does not entitle anyone to humiliate, abuse and attack someone online or in person simply for being who they are.
In fact, that right ends where it starts causing active harm to others – and no democratic society should tolerate and accept this kind of behaviour. And that is where this new law comes into play.
You will not be punished because someone disagrees with your beliefs, or is offended by something you said. It is only interested in snubbing out the threatening and abusive behaviour towards these protected groups.
My experiences online are proof that it is all too common for people to believe they are perfectly in their rights to misgender and humiliate me and my identity with impunity and without consequence. But this is what needs to stop.
There is a clear difference between disagreeing about a particular topic and discussing that, and openly calling people slurs, abusing them for being who they are, humiliating them for their identities, and using intimidating language that incites further hatred and discrimination.
Frankly, if you can’t disagree with someone without humiliating them or degrading who they are as a person, then you really need to learn how to communicate like a human being.
The law has also been criticised by certain feminist groups for not including ‘sex’ as one of the protected characteristics, leading them to claim the law will then be used to ‘criminalise women who do not share their beliefs’.
While I agree that threatening or abusive behaviour based on sexist and misogynistic attitudes should have been included – and let’s not forget that the Scottish government has said it is working on a separate legislation that is relating to misogyny specifically – I feel that it is misguided to think this law will be used against ‘women’ in particular.
It also falsely implies all women somehow disagree with trans rights or trans people’s identities which is not only untrue but completely misses the point.
This law is not going to distract from the very real systematic issues of sexism and misogyny which are clearly rife in our society (that trans people also suffer from), it’s just that the main purpose of the law is to protect people from abuse directed at them simply for being who they are.
As a trans person, who has seen hate crimes and hate incidents towards my community increase in recent years, I hope it will address some of the worst abuse we receive, even down to my own comments section.
Should those passing the law done so with more understanding of the reaction it was going to generate? Probably. They also haven’t really appeared to be equipped with arguments to counter misleading narratives and to calm the public.
And despite reports which said that Police Scotland will no longer investigate every low level crime, the Scottish government has said that there is funding allocated towards the right training to police officers to address these issues. It has also promised of record funding towards the police.
I sincerely hope all this is enough because, as someone who doesn’t have huge faith in police officers to handle these issues sensitively, I worry whether they will truly be fully equipped to handle these issues fairly and adequately.
My biggest concern is that the police will not be able to investigate and deal with cases brought to them with enough diligence and time.
Still, I remain overall hopeful that the legislation in Scotland will make it easier for people who truly need it to get justice, and that vile abuse and communication meant to humiliate or whip up hatred against minorities will be taken more seriously.
While the law isn’t perfect, it is certainly a step in the right direction. We cannot build a society where everyone has equal opportunities if we are constantly allowing people to abuse, humiliate and whip up hatred against minority groups under the guise of ‘beliefs’ or ‘freedom of speech’.
It’s time we addressed what’s really happening here, and stop brushing off abuse and harassment as acceptable behaviour and matter of public debate.
Free speech has limits. It’s time to enforce them.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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