Discussion: Gay Marriage and Free Speech
I'm curious as to peoples opinions on this.
Australia is planning on having a Plebiscite (People's vote) regarding changing the legal definition of marriage to allow same-sex marriage. At the same time there is a certain clause in a law known as the Anti-Discrimination Act, namely section 18c which rules:
(1) It is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if:
(a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and
(b) the act is done because of the race, color or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group.
Now those in favor of redefining marriage are using this clause to rule any speech against gay marriage to be ruled as hateful and therefore illegal.
So my question is this; Which of these two issues carry the greater weight? The libertarian view on same-sex marriage is well known, as is the importance placed on freedom of speech. So which wins out in this scenario?
Is it right to allow those who oppose gay marriage a voice to prevent them from freely marrying, or is it right to silence opponents in order to defend the freedom of same sex couples?
I happen to be transgender, but I'm not at all into liberal politics. I'm EXTREMELY free-speech friendly, to the point of pissing off a lot of people.
I think the right to free speech trumps any other right. If you can't speak, you can't tell someone that you feel oppressed. And that's what transgender and gay people are doing. They're telling you that they feel oppressed, and they want it to stop.
This "promotion of gay" thing isn't really because we want people to be gay. It's because we've all seen the childhood bullying that goes on, and how LGBT kids are targeted. Even I lightly bullied some lispy kid back in middle-school, so I'm guilty as well, despite being transgender, which is even a bit more extreme than being gay.
LGBT people are speaking out because nearly all of them have been bullied as kids, and as adults, they simply refuse to continue dealing with adults who want to bully them. Adults who bully adults are the worst sort of people, so it's no surprise that some people want them silenced or gone.
Now, I don't think we need them silenced, I think we just need them to learn to not be a bully. But I'm expecting a lot of people to simply look down on LGBT people, and to always look down on them, which will create a rift in society. Choosing to look down on people will create enemies, and even though I'm not some fan of laws, other people are, and always will be, no matter their political or social or religious alignment. Those people will make laws that benefit themselves, and we need to fight oppressive ones so that we don't feel afraid of speaking or living how we want to. We also don't want our citizens, gay or otherwise, to feel like second class citizens, so when we see oppression, we need to fight it.
We live in a glorious country. We won't tolerate unjust cruelty upon the innocent. We are writing our legacy, and it will be glorious, and it cannot be stained with petty hatreds towards our neighbors and fellow citizens.
Free speech does NOT mean you should be as mean as possible to other people because it's legally ok. You certainly can, but for what purpose? Free speech is better used to spread good ideas, make interesting conversation, and discuss concepts and discoveries.
These are just my opinions. It's up to you to form your own philosophies that guide your life.
I agree. The idea of free speech is to be able to express yourself without being silenced or prosecuted. It does not give you the right to say what you want without consequence, and it does not entitle you to a platform.
At the end of the day it comes down to respect. Which sounds like a cliche thing to say, but a greater understand of the word would lead to less problems in the world.
"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
Look up transgender agenda if you want to have a deeper understanding of why this happens and why homosexuality is promoted everywhere .
You bring up an interesting question and the answer might surprise you but those who oppose gay marriage are the ones actually fighting for civil rights and liberty.
Snowflake, don't worry, i'm well aware of the promotion of homosexuality. I was just interested in the issue from the perspective of libertarians.
If you want to see something messed up, look up "safe schools coalition" its a transgender sexual education program form young children disguised as an 'anti-bullying' program.
I have heard about this, it's crazy. Is this only in USA? Now they try to link everything with the gay debate, terrorist attack in a gay club, the fiasco about transgender toilet, there is also first cartoon for kids involving a gay couple. Everything is engineered, most people are living in fake reality, I am glad you are not one of them so you can enleighten others
The "Safe Schools Coalition" is an Australian project that we are having to deal with down under.
Disclaimer: I'm an Australian. Don't hold it against me :)
Ok I have heard of a similar program but it was in USA. This means that this indoctrination is happening worldwide freaky.
Well I don't think the government should be involved in marriage at all. And, if they aren't involved then this wouldn't even be an argument.
Thats fair. But as it stands it is an issue. Hence my question: which is the worse encroachment on peoples freedoms?
I think free speech wins. People should be able to say what they'd like, doesn't mean you have to listen. It's amazing we let politicians control our lives like this.