Fears law may restrict free speech
Updated on 11 October 2007
More4 News looks at the possible effects of a law banning homophobic remarks.
In a busy political week, the announcement by Justice Secretary Jack Straw that the incitement of hatred against gay people could lead to prosecution and a jail term of up to seven years.
Some religious groups are worried freedom of speech will be limited and they have had some unexpected support from the gay community.
Don Horrocks, from the Evangelical Alliance, said: "Our concern would be that there would be a kind of authoritarianism coming into legislation in such a way that our ability to think and speak would be severely chilled and restricted."
That is flatly denied by gay rights advocates. They insist the law is aimed at extremists including rap artists inciting murder and religious grops advocating violence towards gay people.
Alan Wardle from the gay rights group Stonewall said: "Religious people will have the right to express their beliefs in reasonable terms and that is absolutely right and proper but what is not right is where that spills over into inciting hatred against people and that is where the limit it is just as it is with incitement to racial hatred. These are the kind of matching protections gay people need as well."
In a statement, the Ministry of Justice said: "We have no intention of stopping comedy of preaching of religious doctrine. Jokes and religious sermons will be perfectly permissible, so long as they are not intended to stir up hatred."
