Norway has expanded its penal code to outlaw hate speech against transgender people.
The Scandinavian country’s parliament agreed last week on the measure, which would see private remarks punished by up a year in prison, and public remarks by up to three. The Bill passed without the need for a vote.
Norway has provided similar protections to homosexual and lesbian people since 1981. The vote prohibited discrimination on grounds of ‘gender, gender identity or expression’, and altered the existing reference to ‘homosexual orientation’. This would grant bisexual people protection too.
Minister of Justice and Public Security Monica Maeland said that transgender people are ‘an exposed group when it comes to discrimination, harassment and violence’.
Birna Rorslett, vice president of the Association of Transgender People in Norway, said: ‘I’m very relieved actually, because (the absence of legal protection) has been an eyesore for trans people for many, many years.’
Norway has among the most accommodating laws for LGBTQI people in the world, which includes allowing people to change legal gender without medical support. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association has claimed a rise in hate crimes in recent years.
Some concerns have been expressed at the possible effect this could have on free speech.