Some people are censored. Get over it?

I’m really unsure how I feel about this.

If you are a Londoner, you have probably seen the recent bus advertising campaign by Stonewall, the lesbian, gay and bisexual equality charity. It is pictured below:

As an ardent supporter of LGBT rights and equality, I welcome the simple fact that such a slogan can be emblazoned so publicly. For one, it shows how far gay rights have come in terms of acceptance and accessibility to resources. But secondly, it shows off Britain’s championing of freedom of speech, something which makes me very proud to live here, especially when you see the cost of withholding such a freedom in countries such as Russia (see my post ‘St. Petersburg: Don’t Go There‘), China and Syria.

The adverts are aimed at the opposition in the ongoing row over homosexual marriage, namely homophobics, and much more pointedly, religious homophobics. As such, a reposte has been designed by the Core Issues Trust who describe themselves as “a non-profit Christian initiative seeking to support men and women with homosexual issues who voluntarily seek change in sexual preference and expression. It respects the rights of individuals who identify as gay who do not seek change.” Their advert looks like this:

The controversy arises because these adverts have been blocked from publication. This is controversial because it denies the other side of the debate the right to a reply which – whether you think they have a point or if you think they are a bunch of batshit crazy loons wasting their lives on totally unnecessary, unfounded and harmful pursuits – is a contravention of the freedom of speech I feel so proud to uphold.

Although there is obviously a line to be drawn between ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘inciting hatred’, I don’t think the CORE advert does that. If anything, the most fervent response is likely to be from people who oppose the message of the advert than neutrals converting to CORE’s philosophy or the already-converted strengthening their beliefs. Indeed, when I see things like this I boil inside with indignation at the unthinking and selfish prejudice behind such views. I don’t know if such a strong reaction is elicited from those sympathetic to these views themselves. ‘Inciting hatred’ is the stirring of people to rally round and act upon a cause based on (usually ill-informed and prejudiced) hatred of another type of person. Quite opposite to inciting hatred, it seems this advert is inviting hatred.

And then there is the issue of what the advert itself is promoting, namely therapies for people who wish to change their sexual orientation. Whether or not you agree with studies which suggest that sexual orientation for some (heterosexuals as well as homosexuals) can be changed (and it is possible that some people can change their orientation if they so wished – again, studies vary greatly) is somewhat irrelevant. The debate over whether or not such a change is possible misses the point entirely, the point being whether or not it is necessary. And the answer, to any compassionate and sensible thinking person, is no, it is absolutely not necessary. Most homosexuals undertaking Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) are highly religious which should tell you a lot. Most exist in an environment where the pressure to be straight is intense and are convinced that something which is completely harmless and natural is somehow a personal defect and a sinful act. It is the brainwashed brainwashing the brainwashed. Rather than promoting ‘cures’ for the benignity of homosexuality, humanity should grow up and promote cures for the malignant cancer of the social ostracization of homosexuals. The cure, unfortunately for the general good, is intelligence.

It is also particularly telling that CORE offers no therapies for people of a heterosexual persuasion who wish to become homosexual. I wonder if there was a demand for this whether they would provide such a service…

Anyway, this is teetering on the precipice of a full-blown, meandering rant, so I must rein it in. The reason I am torn in this issue is that although I fully support the message of the Stonewall campaign and fully reject the implications of the CORE one, I also fully support their right to voice this opinion, especially as the opposite side has been given this right already. Freedom of speech does not take sides, yet here we are denying one its freedom.

This echoes the furore over Nick Griffin’s participation in Question Time in 2009. Griffin is clearly a horrible human being. His views are horrendously misinformed and uncompassionate and his values of human worth are economical and not intrinsic. However, he heads a party which, at the time, had over a million people supporting it. Whatever his views, he represented a significant enough proportion of the British population to be afforded a voice. We would not be a Democracy if we denied this right. That he was hounded for a whole hour gave me a certain amount of satisfaction, but he should have been allowed more time to speak. I mean, what are we afraid of? That given this opportunity he will amass enough votes to take power? Trust me, if that day came, I would elope, possibly to a remote island where I wouldn’t have to live around such idiocy and hate. I would like to think that if he was allowed to spout his nonsense over the airwaves, most of the British people would rightly reject his policies and he might well in fact lose popularity. But while we bully those with unpopular views into silence, they will only use such injustice as a badge of honour to attract more attention and will fire double standards back at the right side of the debate. Let the good speak, and let stupidity speak for itself.

So, in short, I think these adverts should have been allowed to run. In 2008 a similar atheist bus campaign ran which looked like this:

And in similar fashion, a Christian response was formulated, but in this case, was allowed to run:

Again, I completely agree with the first and certainly disagree with the second, but why was this exchange allowed to run, but the latest one nipped in the bud? This debate could rage on and on, but fundamentally I would hope that people are smart enough to pick what is right in the long run, despite what the opposition wish to thrust upon them. True knowledge can not exist in a dictated society – it has to be informed by all sides and weeded out. So people should be exposed to falsehood, otherwise they are scarcely better off than the brainwashed.