DOMS PAGLIAWAN

Observations have it that the transgender movement is seemingly becoming totalitarian as they exercise their increasing control over their ability to speak freely while depriving others of similar free speech about anything relative to transgender issues.

A man was sentenced to three years in prison for saying that men cannot get pregnant. This was in Greece, a highly-civilized country. He was convicted of “transphobic” social media posts objecting to the genital mutilation of children. A 10-month suspended prison sentence and a 5,000 euro fine due to his “public incitement” of “violence or hatred for reasons of gender identity” comprised his penalty.

In the United Kingdom, a woman was threatened with arrest after speaking out against transgender ideology. The arresting police informed her that she was under investigation for a hate crime because of “words or behavior to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.”

Still in the UK, a British veteran was arrested over a social media post condemning the transgender movement. “Someone has been caused anxiety based on your social media post. And that is why you’re being arrested,” the police told him as they put him in handcuffs.

A lesbian filmmaker and actress are under investigation in Norway on criminal hate speech charges because she stated that a man cannot be a lesbian. She was told by authorities that her comments about a trans activist on Facebook — a biological male identifying as a female — were the reason for her investigation.

Similar to cases in Greece and elsewhere, her comments run afoul of a criminal code amendment passed in 2020 that added “gender identity and gender expression” as protected categories under Norway’s hate speech laws. Another woman has already been accused under these same laws and, if found guilty of “transphobia,” could face three years in prison.

Those found guilty of private remarks under these laws can be fined or jailed for a year; while three years is the sentence for public comments.

But the lesbian was defiant, stating that she posted her statement on Facebook to expose the insanity of Norway’s hate speech laws, having previously called them discriminatory. “Will the equality minister take action to ensure that lesbian women’s human rights are safeguarded, by making it clear that there are no lesbians with penises, that males cannot be lesbians regardless of their gender identity…?” she asked.

Perhaps she is just after fairness. If we have the freedom of expression, and we can say wholesome comments about anything, then why can’t we comment about transgender issues that invite attention? Why can we not express our opinions without the threat of being arrested? In this world, the mere fact that you exist already provokes some comments. Why do you have to penalize those comments?