In 1977, however, the case Whitehouse v Lemon (involving the periodical Gay News publishing James Kirkup's poem The Love that Dares to Speak its Name) demonstrated that the offence of blasphemous libel, long thought to be dormant, was still in force. by the House of Lords in the case of Whitehouse v. Lemon (“the Guy News case”).’ But the trial judge in that case said in the course of his summing up that blasphemous libel is committed if there is published any writing concerning God or Christ, the Christian religion, the Bible, or some sacred subject, using R v Hancock and Shankland (1986) Matthew Dyson 15. On 17 March 1978, the Court of Appeal quashed Denis Lemon's suspended prison sentence but upheld the convictions on the basis that the law of blasphemy had been developed before mens rea, literally, a "guilty mind", became an essential element of a crime. Well if we're going down that route, maybe other countries should sanction the UK for homophobia due to the Gay News, Whitehouse v Lemon case, also from 1977. lol. It closed down in 1983. DPP v Beard (1920) Philip Handler 10. They had published a poem which described homosexual acts carried out on the body of Christ after his death. It had been "touch and go", said the judge, whether he would actually send Denis Lemon to jail. The indictment described the offending publication as "a blasphemous libel concerning the Christian religion, namely an obscene poem and illustration vilifying Christ in his life and in his crucifixion". James Kirkup's poem The Love that Dares to Speak its Name was published in the 3 June 1976 issue of Gay News. Court: House Of Lords. and Geoffrey Robertson for Lemon, Geoffrey Robertson for Gay News Ltd. John Smyth and Jeremy … It suffices that there are insults to or vilification of Christianity or the scriptures or sacred persons or objects. The European Commission of Human Rights declared the case inadmissible to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights on 7 May 1982. The original editorial collective included Denis Lemon (editor), Martin Corbett (who later was an active member of ACT UP), David Seligman, a founder member of the London Gay Switchboard collective, Ian Dunn of the Scottish Minorities Group, Glenys Parry (national chair of CHE), Suki J. Pitcher, and Doug Pollard, who later went on to launch the weekly gay newspaper, Gay Week (affectionately known as Gweek) (he later became a presenter on Joy Melbourne 94.9FM, Australia's first full-time GLBTI radio st… By using In 1976-1977, Mary Whitehouse brought a private prosecution (Whitehouse v. Lemon ) against both the newspaper and its editor, Denis Lemon, over the publication of James Kirkup 's poem The Love that Dares to Speak its Name in the issue dated 3 June 1976 . At Common Law only two offences are of strict liability, nuisance and criminal libel. Oxbridge Notes in-house law team. John Mortimer appears for the defence. Gay News Ltd and Denis Lemon appealed against conviction and sentence. In early November 1976, Mary Whitehouse obtained a copy of the poem and announced her intention to bring a private prosecution against the magazine. Gay News Ltd and Denis Lemon appealed against conviction and sentence. Gay News readers voted by a majority of 20 to 1 in favour of appealing to the House of Lords. He was convicted of publishing a blasphemous libel, and the conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. R v Lemon (or, Whitehouse v Lemon) 1 All ER 898, HL D published in Gay News an illustrated poem describing various homosexual acts involving Jesus Christ. Mary Whitehouse delivers the script of The Sex Life of Christ to the Home Secretary, 5 October 1976. Oxbridge Notes is operated by Kinsella Digital Services UG. R v Howe (1987) Findlay Stark 16. Leave to bring this prosecution was granted on 9 December 1976. our website you agree to our privacy policy and terms. Denis Lemon was fined £500 and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment suspended. Mary Whitehouse, founder of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, ... Mr Lemon fell ill with an AIDS-related illness and sold Gay News in 1982. ©2010-2021 Oxbridge Notes. Examples of Common Law strict liability offences can be seen in cases such as Whitehouse v. Lemon Gay News (a case of blasphemy) or in Irish case Shaw v. DPP (a case of outraging public morals). Date: 1979 Feb. 21. Gay News Ltd was fined £1,000. Whitehouse v Lemon, Whitehouse v Gay News Ltd (1979) J R Spencer 14. Whitehouse -v- Lemon; Whitehouse -v- Gay News Ltd On Appeal From Regina -v- Lemon [1979] 2 WLR 281 Sidaway v Board of Governors of the Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital [1985] AC 871 In popular culture Edit A.C. 617, 665-666, quoting Stephen's Digest of the Criminal Law (9th ed., 1950), Article 214. The appellants challenged their conviction for blasphemous libel. Whitehouse v Lemon is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. Lemon, Whitehouse v. News Ltd. A.C. 617) attempted a compendious definition of blasphemous libel. Whitehouse v Lemon is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. Google shows Crookes v Sibisi and Others as what I would call an abuse. Summaries. In 1976, British magazine Gay News publishes a poem, 'The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name', describing Jesus as a practising homosexual, and Christian activist Mary Whitehouse brings a private prosecution for blasphemy against its editor Denis Lemon. R v Brown (1993) Jonathan Herring R v Jordan (1956) David Ibbetson 11. Case summary last updated at 06/02/2020 11:28 by the Related Research Articles. Mary Whitehouse's costs of £7,763 were ordered to be paid four-fifths by Gay News Ltd and one-fifth by Lemon. D published a magazine containing a blasphemous poem and the jury convicted them of blasphemous libel. (The gay poem that broke blasphemy laws and led to Whitehouse v. Lemon, a 1976 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom.) it may not have been the publisher’s purpose to offend Christians or degrade Christ: it was sufficient that the jury held that this was the effect of a deliberate act by D. Lord Scarman described it as “a blasphemous libel is matter calculated to outrage the feelings of Christians”. While they prepared the tomb Abolition of blasphemous libel as an offence, Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whitehouse_v_Lemon&oldid=934467647, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights cases involving the United Kingdom, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Cited as Whitehouse v Lemon [1979] 2 WLR 281; or Whitehouse v Gay News Ltd [1979] AC 617, HL, This page was last edited on 6 January 2020, at 18:11. Whitehouse v Gay News Ltd AC 617 at 658. sub nom R v Lemon, R v Gay News Ltd 1 All ER 898 at 921, HL, per Lord Scarman. July 11 – The English magazine Gay News is found guilty of blasphemous libel for publishing a homoerotic poem, "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name" by James Kirkup, in a case (Whitehouse v Lemon) at the Old Bailey in London, on behalf of Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers and Listeners Association. lawindexpro. Lord Scarman was of the opinion that blasphemy laws should cover all religions and not just Christianity and sought strict liability for those who "cause grave offence to the religious feelings of some of their fellow citizens or are such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to read them". 1977: Gay paper guilty of blasphemy The Gay News and its editor Denis Lemon have been found guilty of blasphemous libel in the first case of its kind for more than 50 years. He was still warm. The Law Lords heard the appeal against conviction and delivered their judgment on 21 February 1979. A re-enactment of the Whitehouse v Lemon court case. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Written by Oxford & Cambridge prize-winning graduates, Includes copious academic commentary in summary form, Concise structure relating cases and statutes into an easy-to-remember whole. Among her more jawdropping achievements were causing the last prosecution for blasphemy in the UK, against Gay News, for publishing a poem which featured a Roman centurion having sex with Jesus at the point of crucifixion. Coram: Lord Diplock, Viscount Dilhorne, Lord Edmund-Davies, Lord Russell of Killowen and Lord Scarman. Whitehouse v Lemon, the trial in question, exposed Britain’s archaic and obscure blasphemy laws. students are currently browsing our notes. By 1983, the Gay News had ceased publication. Mary Whitehouse's costs of £7,763 were ordered to be paid four-fifths by Gay News Ltd and one-fifth by Lemon. Oxbridge Notes uses cookies for login, tax evidence, digital piracy prevention, business intelligence, and advertising purposes, as explained in our Abolition of blasphemous libel as an offence. Whitehouse v Lemon; Whitehouse v Gay News Ltd: HL 21 Feb 1979. After a long period of disuse, the English common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were declared to be dead letter laws by Lord Denning in 1949, but in 1977 in the case Whitehouse v Lemon, the House of Lords held that they were not dead letter laws. D published a magazine containing a blasphemous poem and the jury convicted them of blasphemous libel. it may not have been the publisher’s purpose to … The Gay News Fighting Fund was set up in December 1976. A re-enactment of the Whitehouse v Lemon court case. Judgement for the case Whitehouse v Lemon. If … I n early November 1976, Mary Whitehouse – an outspoken champion of conservative morality – awoke one morning to find a large envelope on her doormat. Whitehouse v Lemon (in the Court of Appeal at 24C-G) shows that it is not a necessary part of the offence that there should be an attack on the whole edifice of Christianity. Whitehouse v. Lemon is a 1976 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. Mary Whitehouse (1910–2001) was a nutjob Christian who campaigned for censorship in the media of everything in that she claimed was immoral. Lemon was assessed a suspended jail sentence of nine months. Gay News-Wikipedia Gay News Issue no. The HL dismissed their appeals and the MAJORITY asserted that for blasphemous libel the mens rea needed was an intent to publish material which a jury held to be blasphemous i.e. Blasphemous libel ceased to be a common law offence in England and Wales with the passing of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. Scarman appeared in the final episode of series one of the BBC1 drama Ashes to Ashes, played by Geoffrey Palmer. The HL dismissed their appeals and the MAJORITY asserted that for blasphemous libel the mens rea needed was an intent to publish material which a jury held to be blasphemous i.e. A poe m within, shown below, resulted in landmark censorship case Whitehouse v. Lemon.Conservative activist Mary Whitehouse sued the publication for “The Love That Dares to Speak its Name,” which describes a sexual fantasy about Jesus. Whitehouse v Lemon Judgement. He says that it should be extended to all religions and says that it is crucial for religious feelings to be tolerated and protected from offence in a pluralist society. In 1976 Mary Whitehouse brought a private prosecution of blasphemy (Whitehouse v Lemon) against both the newspaper and its editor, Denis Lemon, over the publication of James Kirkup's poem The Love that Dares to Speak its Name in the issue dated 3 June 1976. The £26,435 raised by the Gay News Fighting Fund through benefits and donations from the gay community and others, including a £500 donation from Monty Python, was sufficient to cover the costs of the trial and appeals. privacy policy. Gay News-Wikipedia [2] The appeal was lost. By a majority of 3 to 2, the Lords concluded that intention was not required. As they took him from the cross I, the centurion, took him in my arms-the tough lean body of a man no longer young, beardless, breathless, but well hung. The Gay News conviction was upheld in England's highest court, the House of Lords, in February 1979. The prosecution of Anton Vickerman by FACT and Whitehouse v Lemon comes to mind. The charges named Gay News Ltd and Denis Lemon[1] as the publishers. On Monday 11 July, the jury found both defendants guilty. DPP v Morgan (1975) Lindsay Farmer 13. Held: For a conviction, it was necessary to show that the defendant had published the material, and that it was of the necessary character, … A charge against Moore Harness Ltd for distributing was subsequently dropped. NOT merely intending to publish material that a jury later decide is blasphemous. Whitehouse v Lemon, the trial in question, exposed Britain’s archaic and obscure blasphemy laws. Despite this, the Whitehouse jury found the Gay News guilty, and the judge fined the paper £1,000 (approximately $2,500). Blasphemous libel ceased to be a common law offence in England and Wales... See also. In 1976, British magazine Gay News publishes a poem, 'The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name', describing Jesus as a practising homosexual, and Christian activist Mary Whitehouse brings a private prosecution for blasphemy against its editor Denis Lemon. Counsel: Louis Blom-Cooper Q.C. Judge Alan King-Hamilton QC heard the trial at the Old Bailey on 4 July 1977, with John Mortimer QC and Geoffrey Robertson QC representing the accused and John Smyth representing Mary Whitehouse. The paper was successfully prosecuted in the Whitehouse v. Lemon case, along with the editor, Dennis Lemon, for Blasphemous libel under the 1697 Blasphemy Act, by Mary Whitehouse, then Secretary of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association. 96 June 3-16, 1976 . NB the minority (Lords Edmund-Davies and Diplock) argue that as a matter of policy, the HL should construe the mens rea as subjective intent/recklessness as to hurting the feelings of Christians. On 17 March1978, the Court of Appeal quashed Denis Lemon's suspended prison sentence but upheld the convictions. The poem, written from the viewpoint of a Roman centurion, graphically describes him having sex with Jesus after his crucifixion, and also claims that Jesus had had sex with numerous disciples, guards, and even Pontius Pilate. Whitehouse -v- Lemon; Whitehouse -v- Gay News Ltd On Appeal From Regina -v- Lemon [1979] 2 WLR 281; Sidaway v Board of Governors of the Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital [1985] AC 871; In popular culture . In July 1977, Smyth acted for Christian morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse in her successful private prosecution for blasphemy (Whitehouse v Lemon) at the Old Bailey against the newspaper Gay News and its editor, Denis Lemon, over the publication of James Kirkup's poem The Love that Dares to … At issue was whether or not the offence of blasphemous libel required specific intent of committing such a blasphemy. Both Gay News and editor Denis Lemon were fined for blasphemy, with Lemon serving prison time. Shaw v DPP (1961) Henry Mares 12. Title: Whitehouse -v- Lemon; Whitehouse -v- Gay News Ltd On Appeal From Regina -v- Lemon. In 1976 Mary Whitehouse brought a private prosecution of blasphemy (Whitehouse v Lemon) against both the newspaper and its editor, Denis Lemon, over the publication of James Kirkup's poem The Love that Dares to Speak its Name in the issue dated 3 June 1976. 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