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$60,000 Fine For Sexist, Anti-Gay Speech In France

Xtra MSN | December 22 2004

France officially banned sexist and anti-gay speech on Wednesday with a new law against discrimination that media watchdogs and the Roman Catholic Church have criticised as a possible curb on free expression.

The conservative majority in the Senate upper house approved a bill previously passed in the National Assembly to establish an authority to help victims of bias.

Under the new law, anyone found provoking hatred or violence of a person on the basis of sex or sexual orientation would risk one year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euro (US$60,000).

"A decisive step has been taken," said the gay rights association Inter-LGBT.

The conservative government drafted the law after assailants torched a young gay man with petrol, leaving him severely burned, in an attack that deeply shocked the country.

The plan stirred opposition from several quarters.

Media watchdogs say it could lead to self-censorship, with journalists fearing legal action if they speak out.

The Reporters Without Borders group said "a society advances towards tolerance ... via freedom of expression and debate and not through repression".

France's Roman Catholic Church has also expressed concern that the law could prevent clerics from expressing opposition to legalising gay marriage.

Gay rights groups say the new rules would not discourage debate but rather ensure that attacks against gays would be treated in the same way as racial discrimination.