Trans groups have “too much say” on hate crime laws – UK judge

Former Old Bailey judge Charles Wide has said freedom of speech could “suffer” if transgender groups continue to be given an “unbalanced” influence on the expansion of hate crime laws.

With the UK government’s Law Commission currently considering an expansion of the country’s hate crime legislation, a former judge has said “little attention” is being paid to those who might suffer “the consequences of laws being too widely drawn or misused” in support of controversial gender theories.

“Rightly, the interests of those who might be protected are considered in detail but little attention has been paid to those who might suffer, or fear suffering, the consequences of laws being too widely drawn or misused,” Wide explained in the Policy Exchange paper.

“It should be a matter of real concern if the Law Commission is morphing, at least in part, into an engine of social change, pursuing agendas of its own formulation, having a privileged position close to the heart of Government.”

Wilde, who suggested “fear of a Twitter storm or visit by the police” would silence dissenters, also claims LGBT campaigners Stonewall are being treated more as consultants to the Law Commission rather than consultees.

“Views which contest what are presented as orthodoxies were neither sought nor expressed,” he claimed.

The former judge also warned that, by seeking only a “limited range” of views, “unbalanced” laws built on “contentious and controversial sociological theories” would be a likely outcome.

“No adequate thought seems to have been given to the difficulty of reaching beyond a limited range of academics and organisations to the full variety of academic voices, organisations, commentators and members of the public who have no organisation to speak for them,” he said.

The Law Commission is considering whether the list of protected groups should be expanded under current hate crime laws in the UK.

Source