20,000 UK Christians Sign Petition in Favor of Free Speech
The petition reads: “Preserving the sanctity of life and freedom of speech are vitally important to the preservation of liberty and good governance under the rule of law in the United Kingdom. These are under immediate threat by measures in the Coroners and Justice Bill. We the undersigned, therefore, petition HM the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House of Lords to:
1) Protect the value of human life in the UK by opposing proposed amendments authorizing state-sanctioned assisted suicide; and 2) Protect freedom of speech by abandoning its opposition to the free speech protection clause currently within the sexual orientation hatred offence which preserves the right to, discuss, criticise and urge to refrain from certain forms of sexual conduct or practices.”
The petition and its 20,000 signatures were delivered on July 7th, 2009 to Buckingham Palace, No 10 Downing Street and the House of Lords. The Petition raised the concern about Clause 61 contained on the Coroners and Justice Bill, and its impact to ban Christians from openly explaining what they believe based on Bible teaching on sexual conduct for more than 2,000 years.
On July 9th, 2009, the House of the Lords voted in favor of a protection of free speech protection by 186 votes to 133, allowing Christians and everyone else to discuss or criticise homosexual conduct freely, without the fear of up to 7 years of imprisonment. The Observatory was not able to find out what happened afterwards in the House of Commons with regard to this issues.
Sources:
http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/lobby-parliament/coroners-and-justice-bill%E2%80%94petition-and-prayer
http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/religious-freedom/christians-urged-sign-petition-soon-over-gagging-free-speech-biblical