by Reid Fitzsimons
The “Hate Crime and Public Order Act” became effective in Scotland on April 1, 2024. One can intuit the nature of this law, which offers special protections to preferred demographic groups, but the essence of the law can be seen in the March 29th statement of First Minister Humza Yousaf: “I would say to anybody who thinks they are a victim of hatred, we take that seriously, if you felt you are a victim of hatred, then of course reporting that to police is the right thing to do.” In other words, the Act is based on feelings and not objectivity, and is selectively applied.
Prior to law law going into effect, I emailed the Scottish tourist agency, VisitScotland, for reasons explained in the text of the email below. Their response, also below, was prompt and courteous, and can be summarized as, “We don’t know.”
Greetings (or perhaps Latha math) from the US:
My wife and I are long-retired and spent many years living in other countries, but these were always impoverished places in Africa and Central America where we were either volunteering with other organizations or running our own charity project. For quite a while we’ve discussed the time when our life situation would allow us to be regular tourists, and that time has arrived. For years our number one destination desire has been Scotland. I’ve read pretty much every Ian Rankin and Denise Mina book, and almost feel that the fictional character Hamish MacBeth is a distant relative we could visit in The Highlands!
Carole Ann Milljour
Hi Reid, your article was very interesting to say the least. You had a great question regarding visiting Scotland and what to expect in the case of a male in the ladies' room. I would be very concerned as well considering what a recent policy on their part is.
When I was growing up, my dad use to say: “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you.” In other words, let it go and/or deal with it. Life is always going to have people that irritate and (my famous wording) piss me off! So why does a government allow a male in the ladies’ room to be in the right and a woman choosing not to utilize it because of that situation in the wrong? It is all _ _ _ backwards!
Politically, it empowers those in office to shower hate on the people it is supposed to represent. The bureaucrats in office (Joe, Obama, most Dems in particular) cause a lot of harm and, obviously, don’t seem to care in the least. I know this is America and not Scotland, but we are dealing with the same issues!
I know with the “Black Lives Matter” movement, people were paid to act like lunatics against the police and anyone other than Black people. I’ve worked with many Black people throughout my career and can't recall having any problems or noticed any between them and other non-Black individuals outside of jealousy, which most absurdly happens to anyone that is or isn’t black or woke!
Now, with the woke and race-based revolution we definitely have to watch our backs; what we say and do. ..and then, we expect and want the government to step in and stop it. Now I ask you, who started it!?! The government certainly has gotten in our way!
I was taught to defend myself. If I don’t like someone for whatever reason, I stayed away from them. Lord knows, we all walk into situations where we have no idea how it will affect us until we’ve had enough time in the situation to make an honest assessment.
From what I'm seeing, woke people only want to feel that they are in the right by trying to force us into acknowledging their behavior and accepting it (I guess they need the validation, huh?). Well, I don’t accept it. I think they should be who they choose to be and outside of that, leave the rest of us alone! They are always right in our faces. If not, then in the news, on videos, in the classrooms, bathrooms, etc. etc. etc. They don't have to change to satisfy my expectations of them, but I certainly don't have to change to satisfy their expectations of me either! They are expecting a lot if they think most individuals approve of their disgusting displays! …and they are extremely disgusting! If they weren’t so out there and trying to influence us in a negative way, I would not be writing this. I don’t care what they do, they just need to step away from the cameras and stop forcing themselves on us!
We have to stand up and realize that most of us are in the minority group, not the Black Lives Matter organizations or the woke culture as they choose to be called. Most people, Black Americans included, don’t want all this nonsense in their lives. We, the majority of Americans, are just trying to survive by dealing with our day-to-day struggles, family situations, finances, etc. This just takes away from our precious time and resources. Why do we have to deal with all this BS? I don’t want the government to control me, and that's exactly what they are trying to do! I want to be self-sufficient, productive and happy! …and it is so frightening to see how the woke culture continues to grow because, basically, people put up with it.
Ben Carlson was on Forbes (via YouTube video) and he mentioned that the Supreme Court rules according to the Constitution and Bill of rights. They don’t look at someone’s feelings regarding an issue, they look at what the Constitution stands for regarding the issue brought forward. By the way, if you happen to catch it, his speech was phenomenal for sure!
If it is a hate crime for someone to even look at someone else and then just walk away because of fear or a change in mind perhaps then we are dealing with some serious issues in injustice. (Who can guess or even dare to assume what goes through someone's mind in the first place. When the law is that vague, anything can happen!) How we got to this point throughout the world is a mystery. People have certainly been brainwashed! The pied piper is certainly gaining momentum when you stop and see how many people are willing to follow this horrific culture and not take the lead to dismantle people's view of it, so it has less momentum than greater!
This world needs a complete overhaul. We need to pray and stand up for what’s right instead of giving in to those individuals who want to destroy instead of build up! I believe there are fewer of them and more of us. We have power being in the majority. More people want what’s best for this country and as such, we have to do our best in any way we can! Thank God for each new day and the opportunity we all have to make positive changes in our own lives and those of others. We can't overlook this immorality and indecency for very much longer if we want to grow as a nation. Freedom is not cheap, and it certainly takes good leadership to prevail! “In God We Trust” is still stamped on our money! God Bless America! Land of the Free, because of the Brave!