SNP ministers have reversed plans to exempt criticism of transgender identity from Holyrood's Hate Crime Bill.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf last week tabled an amendment to the legislation which would have protected it as freedom of expression.
It said behaviour or material was not to be regarded as threatening or abusive solely on the basis that it involved or included “discussion or criticism of matters relating to transgender identity”.
Tory MSP Liam Kerr tabled a more extensive amendment protecting rejection of beliefs on transgender identity or stating "sex is an immutable biological characteristic”.
However after a backlash in the SNP, Mr Yousaf withdrew his amendment ahead of it going before Holyrood’s Justice committee on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Joanna Cherry 'sacked' from SNP front bench in Westminster
He tweeted: "Have spoken to Opposition members & we have all agreed not to move our amendments in relation to Freedom of Expression (Hate Crime).
“By not moving, will hopefully achieve consensus on a broad FoE clause for Stage 3 that covers all characteristics, so no group feels targeted
“We all want to ensure freedom of speech, including the freedom to disagree robustly with any policy, is protected. We also agree that this is not mutually exclusive to protecting the rights of people to be free from hatred.
“I apologise for any hurt caused - was not my intention.”
He said religious beliefs would still be protected by freedom of expression.
The Bill has been criticised by the religious groups, charities, academics, legal and policing bodies.
Opponents say it restricts freedom on speech, including in the home.
The Justice Committee demanded changes after a receiving a record 2000 written submissions about it.
The original Bill would have updated the characteristics protected in law from hate crimes with new offences for behaviour “likely” to stir up hatred, whether done intentionally or not.
Mr Yousaf later agreed to change that so that offences were based on intent.
Mr Yousaf today announced a new expert working group to consider whether misogynistic behaviour should become a standalone offence under Scots law.
The taskforce will be led by the human-rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy and report within 12 months.
Have spoken to Opposition members & we have all agreed not to move our amendments in relation to *Freedom of Expression (Hate Crime). By not moving, will hopefully achieve concensus on a broad FoE clause for Stage 3 that covers all characteristics, so no group feels targetted
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) February 1, 2021
Baroness Kennedy said: “This is an important piece of work addressing the special forms of violence, transgression and abuse experienced by women which may emanate from misogyny.
"The law often fails women and the panel will consider the law’s capacity to address such crimes.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel