Bumper Sticker: Only gay right is to die
September 24, 2008
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GUN lobbyist Ron Owen has been told he is entitled to express his homophobic views, but that he went too far with the bumper sticker: “Gay Rights? Under God’s law the only rights gays have is the right to die.”
Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Tribunal found Mr Owen guilty of inciting hatred against homosexuals with the bumper sticker when he parked his car outside the Cooloola Shire Council officers in Gympie, north of Brisbane.
The publisher of the ultra-right-wing pro-militia magazine Lock Stock & Barrel and former local councillor was also chastised on Monday for comments he made in the ensuing public outcry that engulfed the rural community, The Australian reports.
The former president of the National Firearm Owners of Australia was taken to the tribunal by several local lesbians, who claimed they had been offended despite only one having seen the bumper sticker.
Two of the women were awarded $5000, with a third awarded $2500 in damages.
Tribunal member Darryl Rangiah handed down a 77-page decision, which also ordered Mr Owen to publish a written apology for inciting hatred and causing offence to the homosexual community of Gympie.
Mr Rangiah acknowledged Mr Owen’s right to free speech, but said he had gone too far with the bumper sticker and in ensuing comments made during a television interview, in a report to a subsequent council meeting and in a letter on his website.
“Ron Owen is entitled to be a homophobe and he is entitled to publicly express his homophobic views,” he said. “That much is required in a society that values freedom of thought and expression. However there are limits.”
The tribunal ruled that Mr Owen - while not the registered owner of the car - had use of it and that the sticker went “beyond a mere joke”.
“The ordinary member of the public would, in my opinion, understand that he or she was being urged to hate and to have serious contempt for homosexuals,” Mr Rangiah said.
Read more on this story at The Australian
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3 Responses to “Bumper Sticker: Only gay right is to die”
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“Gay Rights? Under God’s law the only rights gays have is the right to die.”
Anybody who ever witnessed the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=HwDYVb3Bb78
would have to reckon our poofs are the best bloody poofs in the world.
Andrew Goulding
They sure know how to throw a parade. Speaking of Aussie Poofs, Priscilla Queen of the Desert was on last night…
Nah, I missed it. I was working on the float Blogger-illa float for next year’s parade and then I had to get a midnight body wax.
Andrew Goulding