Der Henker
06-23-2004, 02:39 PM
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=534590§ion=news
[SIZE=5][COLOR=Blue]France to ban sexist insults[/COLOR][/SIZE]
France's conservative government has approved a draft law against sexism and homophobia that has worried press freedom watchdogs and angered feminists, who say it puts gays' rights over respect for women.
The bill, due to be submitted to parliament in July, aims to change France's 1881 press law to [COLOR=Red]punish insults based on sexual orientation, including comments against homosexuals as a group.[/COLOR]
The bill would also punish incitement to discrimination, hate or violence on gender grounds. [COLOR=Red][SIZE=3]Feminists complained that offensive names for gays would be outlawed while women could be called "whores" or "sluts" with impunity.[/SIZE][/COLOR]
The law was prompted by an attack on a gay man last January in which he was sprayed with petrol and severely burned. President Jacques Chirac contacted the victim's companion after the attack to express his indignation and sympathy.
"I expect this law to put a stop to such serious acts as insults and provocations to sexist or homophobic violence, hate or discrimination," Chirac told the weekly cabinet meeting that approved the draft.
Justice Minister Dominique Perben indirectly confirmed that homophobia was the bill's main target in comments after a weekly cabinet meeting approved it.
[COLOR=Red][SIZE=3]"This law will put the fight against homophobia on the same level, in terms of possible legal action, as the fight against racism and anti-Semitism,"[/SIZE][/COLOR] he told journalists.
[SIZE=5][COLOR=Blue]France to ban sexist insults[/COLOR][/SIZE]
France's conservative government has approved a draft law against sexism and homophobia that has worried press freedom watchdogs and angered feminists, who say it puts gays' rights over respect for women.
The bill, due to be submitted to parliament in July, aims to change France's 1881 press law to [COLOR=Red]punish insults based on sexual orientation, including comments against homosexuals as a group.[/COLOR]
The bill would also punish incitement to discrimination, hate or violence on gender grounds. [COLOR=Red][SIZE=3]Feminists complained that offensive names for gays would be outlawed while women could be called "whores" or "sluts" with impunity.[/SIZE][/COLOR]
The law was prompted by an attack on a gay man last January in which he was sprayed with petrol and severely burned. President Jacques Chirac contacted the victim's companion after the attack to express his indignation and sympathy.
"I expect this law to put a stop to such serious acts as insults and provocations to sexist or homophobic violence, hate or discrimination," Chirac told the weekly cabinet meeting that approved the draft.
Justice Minister Dominique Perben indirectly confirmed that homophobia was the bill's main target in comments after a weekly cabinet meeting approved it.
[COLOR=Red][SIZE=3]"This law will put the fight against homophobia on the same level, in terms of possible legal action, as the fight against racism and anti-Semitism,"[/SIZE][/COLOR] he told journalists.