News: Law which made it illegal to call a police horse ‘gay’ is to be changed

That’s the headline from a story published today in The Telegraph regarding an amendment to Britain’s Public Order Act.

The Act, which previously stated “A person is guilty of an offence if he uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour,” will be changed to remove the word “insulting.”

The Telegraph‘s headline references an incident in which a student called a police horse “gay,” which has been used as an example of why the Act’s former wording was problematic.

According to the story:

“Six years ago police tried to prosecute Oxford student Sam Brown after he said to a mounted officer: ‘Excuse me, do you realise your horse is gay?’

Mr Brown, who made the comment during a night out with friends in Oxford after his final exams, was arrested under section 5 of the Public Order Act for making homophobic remarks.”

[Russia Today]

Under the new wording, the use of insulting language will no longer be illegal in cases in which a specific victim cannot be identified.

Read the full story here.