News/Commentary

Michigan bill that would impose punishments for ‘misgendering’ gets torched by Twitter

July 1, 2023 | | Print Article

A bill that was recently passed by Michigan’s House of Representatives imposing harsh penalties including imprisonment for the crime of hurting someone’s feelings is drawing a strong reaction from free speech advocates as it moves toward becoming the law of the land in the Wolverine State.

Last month, Democrat lawmakers passed the new legislation by a 59-50 vote, giving prosecutors sweeping new powers to prosecute “hate speech,” the always vaguely defined term that has been increasingly used to punish and otherwise censor dissent and legitimate political speech, in a chilling move that will likely serve as the model for similar bills in states under the control of left-wing authoritarians.

HB 4474 establishes that causing someone to feel threatened is a serious crime and that those who are found to have offended a member of a protected class are “guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or by a fine of not more than $10,000.”

“Intimidate’ means a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable individual to feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened, and that actually causes the victim to feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened,” according to the bill which experts say could criminalize using the wrong pronouns.

Both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression” are specifically addressed by the bill, which comes amid a national backlash against the transgender movement and the sexualizing of children, giving leftists new tools that could potentially be used to remove obstacles to the fulfillment of their transformational agenda.

If it passes the Senate, the controversial bill, which has already received the support of the state’s lesbian Attorney General Dana Nessel will likely be enthusiastically signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer whose iron-fisted rule during the COVID crisis showed her fondness for totalitarian measures.

“You will NEVER see a law like this in Texas,” tweeted Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who, unlike Whitmer, didn’t exploit the pandemic to crush the civil liberties of residents of his state.

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Other reactions to the un-American crackdown on free speech in Democrat-controlled Michigan.

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“The state of Michigan is now explicitly allowing the gender delusion issue to be used as a ‘protected class.’ This opens up numerous issues when it comes to the courts and the continued weaponization of the system against conservatives,” Republican Michigan State Rep. Angela Rigas said of the Democrat-backed bill.

“We saw similar concerns when they wanted to pass blocks on ‘conversion’ therapy. It seems Dems want to be in the business of telling people how to think,” Rigas added.

“Make no mistake about it. Those advocating for this legislation will wield these policies as a weapon capable of destroying conservative expression or viewpoints grounded in the sacred,” Professor Emeritus William Wagner, an expert in constitutional law told the conservative outlet the Daily Wire.

“One merely needs to look at the scores of cases brought against schools, churches, businesses, and individuals around our country. Proponents use these laws to silence and financially cripple those who dare to adhere to a different viewpoint and oppose their agenda,” he said.

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Chris Donaldson
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