Like what I suspect is the vast majority of people, I don’t have strong opinions around gender issues, apart from wishing well anybody in how they live as long as it doesn’t impact negatively on anybody else.
Some people, however, do have opinions for various reasons. To categorise them all as being rooted in prejudice and to insist they be excluded from the public square is something that should alarm anybody interested in liberal democracy.
For instance, by the standard being propagated, all those who voted against same-sex marriage in 2015 are homophobic. Anybody who voted against repealing the Eighth amendment in 2017 is a misogynist.
And what of the debates that preceded both referenda? Were so-called platforms hate-filled? Or was there a constructive exchange of views in which people were educated? The suspicion is that if there had been no debate, the Yes result in each case would, at the very least, not have been as emphatic as it was.
Deeply worrying
Go back further. Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act was invoked in the 70s. This was to keep the Provisional IRA and its allies from using the airwaves to justify their campaign of killing. What purpose did that ultimately serve, apart from feeding into the Provos' propaganda machine?
Ireland was a different country in those times, dominated by a patriarchal system of power, from both the State and the Church, which still held great sway. Today, allegedly, we live in a liberal democracy where free speech is tolerated by all sections of society.
Not so, according to what has rained down on RTÉ for Livelive’s facilitation of debate.
Free speech is not without its limits. Anything that targets, denigrates or promotes prejudice against any minority should not be, and to a large extent is not, tolerated.
However, if the Liveline programmes can be categorised as promoting hate, we’re heading back to a very dark place.
For sure, the conversation may have been uncomfortable for some, but to be fair to Duffy, he moderated it professionally and attempted to ensure that discomfort was minimised.
In such circumstances, Dublin Pride’s action in targeting RTÉ is deeply worrying.
Any other organisation, on any other issue, would be castigated far and wide as attempting to stifle free speech. Apart maybe from the bishops of yore.
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