Posts
Rowan Atkinson defends free speech in “gay hate” law
by Scott Gilbreath ~ March 19th, 2009
Speaking at a meeting in the British House of Lords on Tuesday, renowned comedian Rowan Atkinson strongly opposed a scheme to remove free speech protection from the offence of “homophobic hatred”.
Mr Atkinson, famous for his roles in Blackadder and Mr Bean, told Peers in the House of Lords: “Do I think that I would risk prosecution because of jokes or drama about sexual orientation with which I might be involved if we don’t have the free speech clause?
“Not really – but I dread something almost as bad – a culture of censoriousness, a questioning, negative and leaden attitude that is encouraged by legislation of this nature but is considerably and meaningfully alleviated by the free speech clause.”
He added: “It would provide succour and reassurance to those of us in the creative world and I would plead for its retention.”
Mr Atkinson also criticised “hate speech” legislation in general.
The Labour Government is expected to use its majority in the House of Commons to defeat a motion to retain free speech protection. If that happens, it will fall once again to the House of Lords to safeguard civil liberties in the UK.
This is not the first time that Rowan Atkinson has publicly lobbied against Labourite proposals to restrict free speech. In 2005, he spoke against a bill to outlaw inciting religious hatred that was subsequently defeated in the House of Lords.
Print This Post
March 20th, 2009 at 08:06 PM
[...] ROWAN ATKINSON defends free speech in “gay hate” law …. [...]