AN AMERICAN preacher who has been convicted in Scotland and fined £1,000 (€1,120) for describing homosexuality as a sin during a street sermon should never have been prosecuted, Scottish religious leaders have said.
New York preacher Shawn Holes, who was travelling with 18 colleagues, was arrested by Glasgow police on March 18th after he was questioned on the street about his views on homosexuality and Islam.
Replying to one question, Mr Holes said: “Homosexuals are deserving of the wrath of God, and so are all other sinners, and they are going to a place called hell.”
Shortly afterwards, he was approached by two police officers who said they had received a complaint that he had said “homos are going to hell”, and he was arrested and detained overnight.
He was charged with uttering “homophobic and sectarian remarks” and committing a breach of the peace, aggravated by religious prejudice, and he was subsequently fined.
New legislation which came into force in the UK on March 23rd, but which was not used in this case, has increased the penalties for inciting homophobic hatred, though it does include a free-speech defence.
The Catholic Church in Scotland said it had supported equality legislation. “But it is very difficult to see how this man can be charged for expressing a religious conviction,” said a spokesman. “The facts of this case show his statement was clearly his religious belief. Yes, it is strong language he has used, but it is obviously a religious conviction and not a form of discrimination,” said spokesman Peter Kearney.
The Muslim Council of Scotland said Mr Holes, a 47-year-old married born-again Baptist from Lake Placid in New York state, was “entitled to his opinion” even if it disagreed with it.
Tom Kelly, the Glasgow lawyer who represented Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, said the case raised important issues such as freedom of speech and religious freedom.
Leading gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell agreed, saying Mr Holes was “obviously homophobic and should not be insulting people with his anti-gay tirades”, but that he should not have been prosecuted. Urging police and prosecutors to concentrate on tackling serious homophobic hate crimes, Mr Tatchell said: “The price of freedom of speech is that we sometimes have to put up with opinions that are objectionable and offensive.”