Judges Throw Out Conviction of ‘Misgendering’ Online
Citing society’s need for freedom of speech, two judges in the United Kingdom have reversed a conviction for a mother of two who was charged with calling a man who lives as a woman a “man.”
A report from the Christian Institute says Kate Scottow has had her conviction, under the 2003 Communications Act, overturned.
She had been ordered to undergo a two-year conditional discharge and to pay 1,000 pounds in compensation, but the Court of Appeal decision reversed that.
Lord Justice Bean and Mr. Justice Warby ruled that free speech includes “the right to offend” and pointed out that, “Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having.”
Scottow had been arrested at her home in front of her children after Stephanie Hayden, a man who now lives as a woman, called police to complain that Scottow was using “offensive” language that focused on online references to him as a man. (Read more from “Judges Throw Out Conviction of ‘Misgendering’ Online” HERE)
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