No longer free to state facts?

• Ele Ludemann writes –

Are we no longer free to state facts and express honestly held opinions?

Take one of the examples given: there are only two genders.

Gender used to be interchangeable with sex and by that definition stating there are only two genders is stating a biological fact.

That some people define and use gender as distinct from sex and believe there are more than two, is a matter of opinion, belief and politics. In a free and democratic society we should be free to state facts and argue against people whose opinions, beliefs and politics lead them to state otherwise.

That is not attacking transgender people, it is not hating them, it is not saying they are not free to dress and behave as they wish. It is disagreeing with a belief that is not supported by facts.

That hate speech, is part of police training when we don’t have laws about it is bad enough. Some of the examples given, which are matters of debate not hate, make it worse.

It’s not just the police who are introducing hate speech, the Law Society is too, about which the Free Speech Union has penned a public letter to Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith:

‘Misgendering’ isn’t a crime!

Minister Goldsmith,  

Despite a clear directive from your office to the Law Commission to not include questions about ‘hate speech’ in their review of the Human Rights Act, that’s exactly what they’ve done.  

Call it what you like or avoid putting it in sections 61 or 131 of the HRA; if the Law Commission is considering whether ‘deadnaming’, ‘misgendering’, and ‘outing’ should fall afoul of the law, they’re looking at censoring legitimate speech.  

Your Government has consistently opposed the development of new hate speech laws and stood for the use of more speech as the best way to beat bad ideas.  

Why has the Law Commission so openly ignored a specific directive from your office?

The Law Commission looks primed to propose anti-speech laws. If that occurs, Kiwis will reject that proposal, and hold the Government accountable, just like they have before.   

We call on you to reject all advice to include any amendments to the Human Rights Act that would undermine the fundamentals human rights of every Kiwi: the right to believe according to their conscience and to express those beliefs.

You can add your signature to this letter here.

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This article by Ele Ludemann was first published on Homepaddock.