Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of Philosophy, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Linguistics, June 2003 / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This thesis analyses the question of the regulation, motivated by egalitarian concerns, of homophobic hate speech and homosexual pornography. I attempt to . critically evaluate what both liberal humanism and postmodernism can tell us about these types of speech, and how we should best treat them, in a framework that takes lesbians' and gays' equality as the underlying organising principle. Although homosexual pornography cannot be convincingly exempted from regulation by affirming that it is not, contrary to heterosexual pornography, implicated in gender oppression, the importance of free speech and the complexity of all pornography messages suggest that the state is not justified in suppressing sex expression relying on the reification of a single viewpoint about its harmfulness. The Law, in limiting pornography on the basis of the radical feminist rationale that assimilates it to hate speech, ends up making strong and arbitrary claims to truth, that are premised on doubtful assumptions, silence alternative knowledges, subjugate outsiders' experiences, and contribute to the creation of oppressive social identities. I advise against censoring pornography out of egalitarian concerns, and argue that, under certain conditions, engagement with court litigation and the deployment of the rights discourse can be promising strategies for lesbians and gay men challenging such obscenity laws. Hate speech seems more evidently linked to discrimination than pornography, and speech act theory suggests that it enacts a specific kind of subordination. However, the role played by homophobic hate speech in perpetuating inequality for queers is limited when compared to other social/discursive practices: thus hate speech laws are the easiest but also, taken on their own, a largely ineffective way of responding to homophobia. As such, these laws bear a presumption of being an unnecessary burden on freedom of expression, a liberty that minorities have a vested interest in keeping as intact as possible. Against homophobia a radical measure is required that, focusing on education, will actively promote equality values. This remedy will be consistent with free speech doctrine to the extent that hate speech will, setting apart some specific cases, escape regulation, and that the State will assume an attitude directed to reaching understanding. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

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This dissertation investigates the broad area of social hate discourse. It interrogates the intersections between sexuality and race, and in particular, the intersections between the practices of antisemitism and heterosexism in New South Wales. Using a specifically designed database (Tracking Violence), 1227 complaint files from the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry lodged between 1995 and 1999 were analysed for the features common to antisemitic and heterosexist maledictive hate. Of particular interest to this dissertation is the text and context of malediction, and whether the regulation of maledictive hate is an appropriate strategy in the elimination and prevention of hate violence.

This dissertation investigates the broad area of social hate discourse. It interrogates the intersections between sexuality and race, and in particular, the intersections between the practices of antisemitism and heterosexism in New South Wales. Using a specifically designed database (Tracking Violence), 1227 complaint files from the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry lodged between 1995 and 1999 were analysed for the features common to antisemitic and heterosexist maledictive hate. Of particular interest to this dissertation is the text and context of malediction, and whether the regulation of maledictive hate is an appropriate strategy in the elimination and prevention of hate violence.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Melbourne, 2004. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 15, 2005). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 331-374).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2005. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Oct. 10, 2006). Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-258).

This thesis highlights the complex ways in which hate speech operates online, which ties into more general debates on online hate speech as something special. One way of elucidating this complexity is by dividing online hate speech into overt and covert. In doing so, we can gain a better understanding of both motivations for hate speech as well as insights in how to prevent it. While overt hate speech is widely discussed, there is not much discussion on covert hate speech. This is especially so when it comes to covert hate speech in online contexts. The questions this thesis raises are how hate speech operates online, and how we can understand this in terms of hate speech being overt or covert. By introducing two different ways of understanding overt and covert, via slurs and dog-whistles respectively, this thesis shows that covert hate speech also has some harmful consequences. If ambiguous terms laced with negative attitudes as communicative content seeps into the mainstream, there is a risk of normalisation of these negative attitudes. Given the ambiguity of these terms or statements, it makes it difficult to take proactive measures. With these results, I conclude that covert online hate speech is a vital part of understanding the mechanisms of hate speech overall.