THE passing of new "hate crime" legislation has been hailed as a vital move towards protecting disabled and gay people against prejudice.
A Private Members Bill, unanimously voted through the Scottish Parliament last night, will extend hate crime legislation to include attacks on gay and disabled people.
The new law makes it an aggravating factor if crime victims are targeted becaus
e of their sexual orientation or disability.
Sentences for perpetrators are likely to be tougher – and the level of hate crimes will for the first time be recorded.
The Bill was launched by Patrick Harvie, a Green MSP who is openly gay. He told MSPs he was "glad and grateful" the Bill had received widespread political support.
Mr Harvie said: "The issue of hate crime is one which reaches down into every community and affects real lives.
"Although this is a small step in the right direction, we should be glad we are able to take it."
He thanked the many groups and individuals who had suffered hate crime for speaking out on the issue "even when that doesn't feel safe".
And he recounted his experience growing up in Dumbarton, when homophobic abuse was regarded as mere "playground banter".
"To even challenge it was to risk personal safety – and this in the supposedly protected environment of school.
"This hasn't gone away in the rest of society. This kind of behaviour, which may be wrongly dismissed as playground banter, is deeply harmful criminal behaviour."
He said the legislation was no "silver bullet" but was a "necessary part of the overall picture" for tackling a range of prejudices in society.
Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, praised Mr Harvie's dedication, and added: "Hate crime is an offence motivated by offenders' hatred towards a core element of someone's identity. There's no place for that in a modern Scotland. It's utterly unacceptable."
The new legislation extends current hate crime laws, which apply to offences motivated by religious and racial hatred.
Surveys show one in five lesbian and gay people have experienced a homophobic hate crime or incident in the last three years.
People with disabilities are said to be four times more likely to be assaulted than able-bodied people. Nearly half of all disabled people in Scotland are thought to have experienced hate crime. Most hate crimes go unreported because of fear of reprisals and a belief the perpetrators will go unpunished.
Alan Dickson, chief executive of Capability Scotland, said such statistics were "quite simply unacceptable".
"Hate crime is a violent expression of intolerance and for it still to be so prevalent is a sad indictment on our society," he said.
RNID Scotland, which works to help the deaf and hearing impaired, and the National Deaf Children's Society Scotland have also given their support.
A joint statement from the two organisations said: "In the same way that society punishes those who incite hatred against people on the grounds of their race or faith, it is only right that, in 21st-century Scotland, disabled people are afforded the same equality of legal protection and freedom to live their lives without fear."
Abusing the disabled no less serious than racismVERBAL abuse directed at her disability has become part of life for Karen, from Edinburgh, who has a neurological condition and displays symptoms similar to cerebral palsy.
"A girl threatened to cut my throat," she says. "She was sitting near me and she just went on and on about how she was going to cut my throat."
Despite such terrifying threats, Karen is a tough character and is able to laugh off most bad experiences.
"She was overweight and no doubt jealous at my slim figure," she says. Another time, Karen was waiting at a bus stop when some young men bumped into her.
"One had a metal pole in his hand and shook it in my face. I was on my way to a night out with friends, and when I got there, I burst into tears."
For Karen, making such attacks against disabled people a "hate crime" is long overdue.
"This law will offer me some protection. And, hopefully, it will send a message out to the public that abusing people because of their disability is no less serious than abusing someone because of the colour of their skin."
