Dealing with homophobic remarks.

Loz01

Guest101 wrote: »

Really? You actually think this is the case?

So Religion and sexuality are subjects on which we cant say anything? Dont be so absurd.

OP You've had some great advice. I'd just add that, whatever your sexuality, religion, whatever. These things dont define you. It is just parts of the whole.

You can ignore it and enjoy your night, or you can confront it, and be surprised how supportive bystanders are.

Good Luck

Correct - why should the OP have to put up with rude and homophobic "banter" by his work colleagues that make him feel awkward and upset? He shouldn't have to put up with that in the work place!

Guest101

supermassive wrote: »

Correct. You cannot say anything on these matters that can be viewed as derogatory or with intent to cause emotional harm. It's not 'absurd' it's the law.

Can you quote the law please. Because i believe you are misrepresenting this.

Guest101

Loz01 wrote: »

Correct - why should the OP have to put up with rude and homophobic "banter" by his work colleagues that make him feel awkward and upset? He shouldn't have to put up with that in the work place!

Just to be clear this was not the work place.

And the comments were about the OP not to the OP. (except for the bum slap ofcourse)

Just to clarify this: my point is that commenting negatively on things is allowed.
We still have free speach.

PaulineM_3

Guest101 wrote: »

Just to be clear this was not the work place.

And the comments were about the OP not to the OP. (except for the bum slap ofcourse)

Just to clarify this: my point is that commenting negatively on things is allowed.
We still have free speach.

Ok the scenario here -Bum slapped - Assault - Made worse by homophobic abuse from the protagonist (AKA the prat)
Copy and pasted -

Law on homophobic hate crime and reporting hate crime

How does the law treat homophobic crimes more seriously?
• A law called the Criminal Justice Act 2003 gives courts the power to give criminals tougher sentences if they’re found guilty of a crime motivated by homophobia.
• The judge who reads out their sentence in the court has to tell the court anything extra added to the sentence because the crime was homophobic.
• This makes it clear that homophobia is not acceptable and that there are consequences for hateful behaviour towards gay people.

How can gay people report hate crimes?
Gay people can report crimes in the usual ways:
• In an emergency by calling 999, and in other cases by visiting or phoning their local station.
• By filling in an online crime reporting form .
• Through a third party. This means they tell another organisation that is registered as a third party reporting centre about the crime and then the organisation will tell the police. This includes organisations like Crimestoppers (0800 555 111).

Why would someone want to report a homophobic crime through a third party?
• This could be really important for people who are not open about their sexual orientation so don’t want to complete a form that will require any personal information.
• Third party reporting means the police get information they need to tackle crime without people having to identify themselves if they feel unable to.

Do gay people report hate crimes?
• Stonewall’s 2008 survey found that seven in ten gay people did not report the hate crime or incident to anyone, including the police.
• This is a problem because it means the police can’t tackle the crime and also don’t understand how big the problem really is. It also means criminals can go on being violent or abusive to other people.

Why might gay people find it hard to report homophobic hate crimes?
• Until only a few decades ago it was illegal to be gay in Britain. Then, police would have been arresting gay people rather than helping them. Even after this law changed, some gay people still experienced unfair treatment at the hands of the police.
• This means some gay people – particularly older gay people, but also some who are young – worry that the police will not help them if they report a hate crime.
• However, police forces are working hard to change this, and some police forces have been ranked highly as very positive places for gay people to work in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers. This means they should start working better with gay victims too.
• Some police forces have LGBT Liaison officers to help build better relationships between the police and the local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

What is an LGBT Liaison Officer?
• An LGBT Liaison Officer offers support to victims of homophobic hate crime as well assisting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people living, working and visiting the local area.
• Liaison officers play in important role in helping communities be more aware of gay issues. Some even visit schools and youth groups to talk about homophobia, and many work with local lesbian, gay and bisexual people to help them be more confident about reporting crime.

Guest101

PaulineM wrote: »

Ok the scenario here -Bum slapped - Assault - Made worse by homophobic abuse from the protagonist (AKA the prat)
Copy and pasted -

Didn't disagree with this though. Hate crimes are a serious thing.

What I'm referring to is commenting on religion etc.

For example there are a number of street preachers where I live. I would very happily tell them what I think of their religion, ( being atheist this is all religions ), if we were to get into a dialogue. That is not a crime.

So commenting negatively is not a crime.

supermassive

Guest101 wrote: »

Didn't disagree with this though. Hate crimes are a serious thing.

What I'm referring to is commenting on religion etc.

For example there are a number of street preachers where I live. I would very happily tell them what I think of their religion, ( being atheist this is all religions ), if we were to get into a dialogue. That is not a crime.

So commenting negatively is not a crime.

Religion is a grey area, however crime is not. "commenting negatively" fine, go for it. Commenting in order to cause harm to a person, however is not acceptable.

For instance: "How can you prove god exists, and that you follow the word of god, if so many terrible things happen in his name across the globe?" Is fine.

"You're a piece of crap promoting god here, hopefully you meet him sooner rather than later, you freak" is not.

Guest101

supermassive wrote: »

Religion is a grey area, however crime is not. "commenting negatively" fine, go for it. Commenting in order to cause harm to a person, however is not acceptable.

For instance: "How can you prove god exists, and that you follow the word of god, if so many terrible things happen in his name across the globe?" Is fine.

"You're a piece of crap promoting god here, hopefully you meet him sooner rather than later, you freak" is not.

I could say:
" i dont agree with you're make believe God, i think your religion is a sham"

Actually im pretty sure i could say that second line you wrote too. (not saying i would)

I think you'll find any law which relates to causing offence is a grey area.


It’s simple really.



Being offended is a personal thing. I’m not offended byswearing. Someone else might be.

This makes it a grey area.

I am offended by religion being shouted into my face. Othersmight not.

So my rational response might be to say, ‘Stick your religionwhere is sun doesn’t shine you tit’. Since swearing does not offend me, thiswould be fine. However, someone else might see this as offensive.



Yes I’m playing devil’s advocate. Normally I’m out with mykids, and simply say no thanks and move along. But the principal or any freecountry, is the freedom to formulate opinion and express it. Just because it isdisagreeable to another, does not make it a crime.



Sexuality, religion, race, gender – it’s not who people are.It’s just aspects of their life. In reality very small aspects.



Just because someone is black doesn’t mean they are poor ora criminal.

Just because someone is Muslim doesn’t mean they are goingto cut my head off.

And just because someone is a man, doesn’t mean they arapist (unlike Lancashire constabulary tried to make out with this years Christmascampaign)



We have the freedom to discuss and comment on these things.If someone is offended, then that person is free to say so. They are also freeto leave the conversation. Any rational or normal person would apologise forcausing offence too.

theoretica

If you make a joke of it it I think it gives the impression that you don't mind so much and considerate people might be less likely to squash or cold shoulder the offender. If you want your private life private I think you should be able to say so.

Guest101

theoretica wrote: »

If you make a joke of it it I think it gives the impression that you don't mind so much and considerate people might be less likely to squash or cold shoulder the offender. If you want your private life private I think you should be able to say so.

I agree but it works both ways.

You have to keep your private life private if you want that.

Edwardia

If the person on the receiving end of it is distressed, or if you witness it and are distressed then yes it can be reported to the police. There is a difference between 'hate incident' and 'hate crime' and I'm not really sure what that is.

When I reported one woman for unprovoked abusive homophobic screaming and swearing, she denied it, the witnesses wouldn't get involved and nothing was done by the police.

Stonewall has said that there is chronic under-reporting of homophobic hate crime. Something like 40,000 incidents are recorded with LGBT organisations every year and under 5000 are dealt with by police.

And when the police won't do anything it leaves the perpetrators feeling they can do what they like and they may then escalate it.

Stonewall is working on getting UK police forces on board with protecting LGBT people more.