Muzzle Mary

Over by the United Kingdom, an interesting issue on free speech has just come oozing out, this courtesy of some people who're in the habit of littering the world with what is called 'hate-speech.'

The news wires tell us that British officials have barred an American pastor, Fred Phelps, and his equally-charming daughter from entering the UK after they had announced their plans to "protest" against a school play based on a gay-hate crime committed in America.

Sorry, was that too complicated for you? Ok, here's a linear version of the story.

Do you remember Matthew Sheppard, that cute blond boy killed in Laramie, Wyoming? That was a decade ago, in 1998. Matthew had been enticed from a bar, robbed, tied to a fence, pistol-whipped and tortured, then his skull was crushed and he was left to die by some bigots. Matthew was the inspiration for the bill in the U.S. Congress that makes attacking persons on the basis of sexual preference a hate crime. (President Obama, however, has said time and again he is committed to getting this piece of legislation transformed into law.)

This is where Pastor Phelps (PP) and the "church" he founded, the Westboro Baptist, come in. During Matthew's funeral, members of the church suddenly appeared out of nowhere to picket, all in the spirit of promoting their belief that homosexuals are destined, not for the stage of the Oscar awards, but for hell. 

Shocking, right? Not just that, but over the years, PP and his church have continued to cause horror and outrage by picketing the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq. The church claims that the soldiers all died because God is punishing America for its acceptance of homosexuality. So they stand around military funerals waving sophisticated signs proclaiming "God Hates Fags."

Fast forward ten years into the future. Matthew has apparently become the inspiration for a stage play at Queen Mary's College, near London. The play is titled 'The Laramie Project,' and it chronicles the life (and death) of Matthew.

What does PP and his motley crew try to do? Their website says it all: "God hates the Queen Mary's College, and the fag-infested UK, England, and all having to do with spreading sodomite lies via The Laramie Project, this tacky bit of cheap fag propaganda masquerading as legitimate theater."And to put their words into action, the story was, father and daughter pair were jetting into the UK to picket the play. 

The UK Border Agency then slapped a ban on entry against the dynamic duet, saying that they had engaged in the unacceptable behaviour of inciting hatred. Thus, the Brits essentially said to the Phelps, 'your ideas are not welcome here, and we don't even want to listen to them.' (Could it have anything to do with the fact that PP has, reportedly, been arrested as well in Canada for hate speech crimes?)

Here lies the issue. Isn't this a curb on free speech? (Or, what is called in Constitutional Law, 'prior restraint.') Isn't this censorship, which inhibits the free-flow of ideas, and which is antithetical to any democratic society? 

A gay activist in the UK has actually even come forward and said, PP et fille should have been allowed in, just for the principle of it. Just like with any other proponent of any other theory, the underlying rationale for a democracy tells us that we should let them come in, and try to convince people of the validity of their theories. If their reasoning is sound, then they can win in the marketplace of ideas. If not, then nobody will listen to the cuckoos.

This is where the schools of thought diverge. The American courts will probably want to uphold free speech under the beautiful explanation I just gave above, while other countries won't be as liberal. Some advanced nations have already criminalized hate speech, laying down the mandate that it is impermissible to yak around and try to convince one set of people to hate another set of people.

This is a question we should ponder seriously in this country. Is preaching hate desirable? Will it benefit our democracy? Would it be desirable if people went around saying: "Ugly people should die"?Let's go ask Vicky Belo.