Even in sensible Switzerland. From Reduxx:
A man in Switzerland is facing 10 days in prison after refusing to pay a fine for an “offensive” social media post. Emanuel Brünisholz, a wind instrument repairman from Burgdorf, was convicted under anti-discrimination laws for making statement emphasizing skeletal evidence of binary sex.
A wind instrument repair man. There's a joke in their somewhere…
Brünisholz’s ordeal began in December of 2022 when he responded to a Facebook post by Swiss National Council member Andreas Glarner. In his comment, Brünisholz wrote: “If you dig up LGBTQI people after 200 years, you’ll only find men and women based on their skeletons. Everything else is a mental illness promoted through the curriculum.”
The reply, which highlighted the immutable nature of biological sex and played on a popular meme, quickly drew complaints from activists who filed reports with local police, alleging it constituted public incitement to hatred under Article 261bis of the Swiss Criminal Code. This provision, originally enacted in 1995 to prohibit the dissemination of ideas based on race, ethnicity, or religion that degrade human dignity, was expanded in 2020 to include a broad interpretation of “sexual identities.”
Burgdorf Police interrogated Brünisholz on August 15, 2023, launching a formal investigation into charges of discrimination and hate speech. During the questioning, conducted by the Regional Police Command Mittelland – Emmental – Oberaargau and documented in an official transcript, Brünisholz was interrogated about the “intent” behind his Facebook reply.
To the question, “What did you mean by this comment?” he replied: “Well, that those who think there’s not just man and woman, I want to tell them that there’s only man and woman.”
Seems fair enough. And of course absolutely true. But apparently it's belittling to LGBT(Q)I people. Well, belittling to the T portion of LGBT(Q)I people – the people who believe you can change sex.
The Bernese judiciary determined that “through his comment published on Facebook, [Brünisholz] has publicly belittled the group of LGBT(Q)I people based on their sexual orientation and in a way that violates human dignity.” He was issued a penal order fining him 500 Swiss francs (approximately $580 USD), convertible to 10 days of imprisonment if unpaid.
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