STATEMENT BY THE RAINBOW PROJECT – http://www.rainbow-project.org

The Public Prosecution Service has decided not to continue with the investigation and possible prosecution of Northern Ireland Assembly Member Iris Robinson MP MLA. Mrs Robinson who is married to Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson was involved in controversy in 2008 when she referred to homosexuality as an abomination on the Steven Nolan show. Following those comments and others made on the floor of both Westminster and the Northern Ireland Assembly, over 80 people made complaints to the PSNI, accusing Mrs Robinson of incitement to hatred. Included in the comments made by Mrs Robinson was a comparison between gay people, murderers and paedophiles.
Equality Officer for the Rainbow Project John O’Doherty, who was one of the people who made a complaint about Mrs Robinson today stated: “I find this to be a complete miscarriage of justice. It is our understanding that Mrs Robinson has not even been interviewed in relation to the allegations made against her. The legislation which we believe to have been broken by these actions, clearly calls for intent. How can we be sure what Mrs Robinsons intent was through these comments without asking her?”
“It has been 10 months since Mrs Robinson made her initial comments on the Steven Nolan show. The lesbian, gay and bisexual community have waited graciously for a clear response from the PSNI and the PPS in relation to this case. For months we were promised a quick response either way, but the reality has been something completely different. What we have seen in a case brought forward by Mrs Robinson against a member of the gay community was swift action by the PSNI where the person was threatened with arrest if they did not volunteer themselves for an interview. Even though this incident occurred almost 4 months after Mrs Robinson made her initial statement and the investigation involved an interview with the accused a decision on both cases was arrived at, at the same time.”
“These facts raise some serious concerns which the PSNI and the PPS must respond to, to ensure confidence within our community in relation to policing and justice:
• Why it has taken so long to come to such a poor conclusion in the case of Iris Robinson?
• Is there a hierarchy of victims in Northern Ireland?
• Why was the decision taken not to interview Mrs Robinson?
• Does this give Northern Ireland Politicians a free card to say what they like?
Because of the concerns that have been raised by the community in relation to this case, the Rainbow Project will be making representation to, and would encourage all complainants to contact, both the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland and the Equality Commission in order for an investigation to take place which may finally give us some answers”

That is scary that they actually have the power to prosecute someone for something a person says. Thank our Founding Fathers for the First Amendment. "I disagree with what you have to say but will fight to the death to protect your right to say it." – Voltaire

Don't be a hypocrite Jason – there is no absolute right to shout Fire in a theatre. Look at US state level efforts to silence Westboro homophobic protests. There is nothing wrong in my opinion with proscribing a generality of hate speech that is commonly agreed. US also proscribes certain hate crimes against the person. This is simply an extension ….

I would rather live in the UK with such protections for gay people (& incidentally, gay marriage freedoms, adoption freedoms, freedom from discrimination in goods and services, freedom to serve openly in the military, freedom from discrimination in Inland Revenue, next-of-kin freedoms, national programs inclusive of homophobic bullying in schools etc etc).

You are wrong. We have no laws that punish a person for hate speech as long as there are no threats or violence attached to it. If someone wants to call me a deragatory term there is no recourse on my part. That is their First Amendment right. Your example of yelling Fire has no bearing on hate speech. That is a public saftey issue. I for one do not want a nanny state that protects every group against any percieved insult. I can take care of myself when it comes to insults; I don't need the state to do that for me.

I agree that they are certainly more advanced than us when it comes to gay Civil Rights. Everyone is fighting for gay marriage when all that really needs to happen is an amendment to the Civil rights laws to include sexual orientation. The rest of the changes would follow nationwide.

When @Paul McMichael: "Don't be a hypocrite Jason -"

Jason said nothing to indicate hypocrisy, and you start your argument with an ad hominem. – 2 points

from above story: "Does this give Northern Ireland Politicians a free card to say what they like?"

And how dare they voice an opinion?

It's up to us to use reason to discredit it.

When you try to squelch an opponent's speech, you're revealing to everybody that you really have no faith in your intellect to rationally refute it.

It's crap like this from the "well-meaning" but overreaching left that has me worried about winning the moderate middle over to our side.