NORWAY, November 13, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Norway has expanded its “hate speech” laws so that privately made “discriminatory remarks” against homosexuals or transgenders can land people in prison for a year. If such comments are made publicly, they are punishable by up to three years in prison.
“The penal code states that those who are guilty of hate speech face a fine or up to a year in jail for private comments, and a maximum of three years in jail for public remarks,” the pro-homosexual site Out.com reported.
Previously, the code prohibited “hate speech” based on a) skin color or national or ethnic origin, b) religion or belief, c) homosexual orientation, and d) disability.
The amendments changed “homosexual orientation” to “sexual orientation” and added “gender, gender identity or expression” to the list of protected attributes.
In explaining the reason for the amendments, Monica Maeland, Norway’s minister of justice and public security, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, “It is imperative that the protection against discrimination offered by the criminal legislation is adapted to the practical situations that arise,” noting that transgender individuals are “an exposed group when it comes to discrimination, harassment, and violence.”
In their review of Norway’s “human rights situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex people,” LGBT activist group Rainbow Europe claims that a quarter of LGBT persons have been victims of hate speech in the past year, and that “15 percent of LGBT people have personally received threats during the same period, compared to four percent in the general population.”
Norway has some of the most liberal laws supporting the gender confused and is ranked fifth for its policies by Rainbow Europe. Children as young as seven have the “right” to change their sexual identity in legal documents without a medical or psychological diagnosis of gender identity disorder, and there is no requirement for those who identify as a member of the opposite sex to undergo any appearance altering treatment.
Nevertheless, LGBT activists want more.
Rainbow Europe says it considers Norway to have implemented only 68 percent of what it identifies as essential rights for LGBT people. In the category of “legal gender recognition and bodily integrity,” the activist group identifies three areas they would like to see changed. They are dissatisfied with the fact that children under 7 are unable to legally change their sex and that medical intervention is prohibited for those too young for informed consent. They would also like to see the “requirement for a mental health assessment in order to access trans-related care” removed.