The Fundamental Things Apply

at

This afternoon.

Kildare Street, Dublin 2

A kissing protest has taken place outside the Dail to highlight “the lack of hate-crime legislation”. The ‘Shift The Hate Away’ demonstration follows attacks on two gay men in Dublin in recent weeks.

Yesterday: Ctrl + Shift

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

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26 thoughts on “The Fundamental Things Apply

  1. V

    Well
    I think us straight kissers must be better kissers

    ’cause those shifts look pretty sad
    and have a very distinct ara’ shur go on so vibe off them

  2. NobleLocks

    Completely against this nonsense, the legislation required to take into account motive is already in place and is used on a daily basis by the judiciary. There is no need for special laws for one special section of society.

    This attempt to insert “special treatment” into the statue books breaks the primary tenant that all people are to be treated equally under the eyes of the law.

    Either we’re all equal or none of us are.

      1. Hank

        Exactly, enforce the laws that are already there. People from all walks of life are victims of assault all the time. The problem is there’s no deterrent and telling a judge that you’re normally a lovely fella but you had 10 pints and a line of coke that night and your granny died 4 years ago seems to be enough to get you off with a slap on the wrist. Assaulting people on the street for no reason needs to be elevated to a serious crime status with serious consequences.

  3. Spaghetti Hoop

    Violent crime against anyone is abhorrent. But their campaign messaging is all about….LGBTI. Is it not true that violent crime against women (at home or in the street) is ‘hate-crime’, as is violent crime against children (two recent extreme fatal cases), against tourists, against immigrants, and so on? If a government already commit to tackle crime, but perhaps underfund policing, are soft on custodial sentencing, provide inadequate psychiatric services etc. then surely those are more focused objectives for lobbying and protest. I am tired of the exclusionist aspects of the LGBTI community in that they’re always the ones feeling victimised. We are one equal society. The images of men snogging is all very sweet but it does nothing to inspire an anti-crime protest.

    1. some old queen

      The reason they (we) feel victimised is because they (we) ARE victimised- gay bashing is grossly under reported and even then, prosecutions are very rare. All the Dublin taxi fellas know the Trans or out there gays because walking the streets is still not safe.

      But, as before, I am not sure what is being demanded over and above 1989- perhaps these good folk could explain- if it is about speech then we are into a grey area and need to tread very carefully.

      1. Spaghetti Hoop

        I’m not disagreeing with you soq nor shifting focus here, and I am going to retract my word ‘victimised’ with apologies as what I really meant was ‘threatened’. It’s sick that gay people feel unsafe walking the streets as you put it simply for their sexuality. But you really need to look at the wider picture of society. Is this time, 2019, a period of heightened non-acceptance or will this always be the case? For example, women walking alone in Dublin felt threatened during the 90s abductions, so did nationalists in loyalist areas in NI during periods which were heightened as being risky to them. It doesn’t mean that it is completely safe now. My point is that there will always be criminals out there attacking innocent civilians. If it’s a homophobe, a paedophilic, a rapist – they’re all criminals with hate-filled motives and there is already a law against their activities. So why invent a new crime exclusively for the LGBTIQ community?

        1. some old queen

          As I said, I don’t fully understand what is being asked for myself but pretty sure it is not exclusively for the LGBTIQ community. Non-white people have a hard time of it too so it should cover all minorities. Some say it is because the current is not properly implemented while others think it is just a weak law- either way, given the lack of prosecutions, something is clearly a miss.

          The main difference with LGBT is the hidden element because as many people are not fully out and it takes courage when you also have confidentiality concerns- I do think it is important that hate crimes are recorded as such however. There can of course be a gay ALI G element to it all- in which case, it’s not homophobia dear, nobody likes you but- for the most part, LGBT community’s safety concerns are real and are legitimate.

  4. Ted

    Crime is crime. Under no circumstances should we have any new legislation for “hate crime”.
    Who defines whats a hate crime and whats not.
    Also, gross pic.
    Is that a hate crime? Nobody knows.

    1. shortforBob

      I’d support hate crime legislation if I didn’t think it would be thought crime legislation, rarely enforced and only used to add time against people already convicted.

      Good idea, rarely enforced, happens too often in this country.

  5. Murtles

    I don’t like anyone chewing the faces off each other in public be it a man and a woman, two men, two women, a llama and a sheepdog or the other gender type humanoids. Save it for your house or in private.

      1. some old queen

        No- you’d to travel all the way from Longford to Dundalk by Irish Rail’s ‘affordable and quality service’ at least twice a week to get that radacised.

  6. Slightly Bemused

    I was once asked if I supported gay rights, to which I responded to the effect of not really, I support equal rights. The problem is that those equal rights are not always applied equally, just as the laws are not always applied equally. So to that end, until all are really equal, both in rights and laws, I do support measures to protect those excluded by any form of prejudice.

    Albeit in another country, a very good friend of mine who was a gay activist was beaten to death for his views – because he was hated by other sections of the society. Hate crimes do happen, but as Spaghetti Hoop said above, they are not limited to those against the LGBTI+ community. I support the move to have hate crimes separated out for special notice, but against all forms of hate crime.

  7. GiggidyGoo

    Forget about all that. Just got a text from Michael Noonan – ‘Zip up your pockets’ – with a smiley and a picture of Deutsche Bank

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