The court of Appeal in Douai [Dowaai in Dutch], in the French northern province of Flanders (adjacent to the Belgian Dutch-speaking region of Flanders), has convicted a member of the French Parliament for his views on homosexuality. Christian Vanneste, an MP of the ruling UMP party, had said that “heterosexuality is morally superior to homosexuality.” He also said that “homosexual behaviour endangers the survival of humanity.” This is a statement one is no longer allowed to make in France.

Last year a court of first instance in Lille [Rijsel in Dutch] sentenced Vanneste to a fine of €3,000 (almost $4,000) plus €3,000 in damages to each of the three homosexual activist organizations that had taken him to court. On Thursday the appeal court upheld the verdict, adding a further €500 to the sum which the politician has to pay to the three organizations.

The three organizations brought the politician to court under a 2004 law that criminalizes “homophobia.” The homosexual activist groups welcomed the court ruling, saying that it “aims to punish homophobic comments which should be fought because they inspire and legitimize verbal and physical attacks.” As former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky told us last year the introduction of “hate speech” laws in Europe are a clear sign of the end of freedom.

In addition to forbidding statements that European neo-Fascists, such as the French homosexual activists, regard as homophobic, French courts also prohibit the distribution of pork soup by private charities because that is deemed to be “islamophobic.”