[PLUG-TALK] Squelched speech...

[Someone]

Philadelphia, 2004: Five members of the Christian group Repent America
are arrested and charged with hate crimes for preaching the gospel at a
gay "outfest" event. Charges were dropped only after lawmakers
threatened to change the wording of the hate crimes law specifically to
exclude speech (Family Research Council, Culture Facts, Jan. 2005).

Saskatchewan, 2000: A complaint was filed in Canada regarding an
advertisement run in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix that displayed Bible
verses against homosexuality. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission
recommended that the individuals who purchased the ad pay $2,000 in
damages to each of the three complainants and that the defendants share
the $4,500 cost for the government’s expert witnesses. The ruling was
upheld by a Canadian court (Free Republic Online, Sep. 2003).

England, 2001: A broadcaster in the United Kingdom known as the "God
Channel" was fined 20,000 pounds stirling (about $36,000) for an ad that
described homosexuality as an abomination. The Communications Commission
ruled that the ad violated several provisions of the advertising code
and fined the broadcaster (National Liberty Council, NLJ Online, Dec.
2000/Jan. 2001).

Sweden, 2003: Pastor Aake Green, a Pentecostal minister in Oeland,
Sweden, was convicted in 2003 under Sweden’s hate-crimes laws and was
sent to jail for thirty days for calling homosexuality "a deep cancer
tumor on all of society" during a sermon (Family Research Council,
Culture Facts, Mar. 2005).

Netherlands, 2000: A complaint was filed in a Dutch court against Pope
John Paul II for his statement that "homosexual acts are contrary to the
laws of nature." The complaint was dropped when the court ruled that the
Pope’s status as a leader of the Catholic Church and the Vatican state
afforded him immunity from prosecution (National Liberty Council, NLJ
Online, Dec. 2000/Jan. 2001).