How trans activists captured the hate crime agenda
By Kath Murray, Lucy Hunter Blackburn and Lisa Mackenzie, Artillery Row:
The “hate crime” agenda is based on bad policing and worse politics.
Ahead of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) 2021 coming into force on 1 April, the Scottish Government has launched a public information campaign, “Hate Hurts”, showing the impact of what it terms “hate crime”, and encouraging complainants to come forward.
The campaign is light on detail on the new law. A Stakeholder Toolkit explains “stirring up” racial hatred will be extended to cover all other characteristics, but provides no detail on what “stirring up hatred” actually means; although strikingly, advises stakeholders to “think about monitoring any abusive or threatening comments on social media ensuring these comments are hidden and if required reported” when promoting campaign materials.
The difficulties with the Act are well-rehearsed. Once in force, Police Scotland faces a potential deluge of complaints relating to stirring up hatred based on transgender identity, relating to differences of belief on sex and gender. The Act offers limited freedom of expression protections and training for officers is reported to be inadequate. The Scottish Police Federation has said:
We could end up with people being charged who should not be charged because people do not understand the law. We are asking officers to police a law that they are unprepared for.
Starting with development of the “hate crime” agenda in the UK, this article looks at how we got here.
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