Theologian at University of Lugano acquitted of homophobia
The police court in Bellinzona has acquitted a German professor at the Faculty of Theology in Lugano of charges of discrimination and incitement to hatred.
The 68-year-old professor at the University of Italian-speaking Switzerland (USI) had been accused of authorising the publication of a homophobic article in a theological monthly publication of which he is the editor.
The man, who had pleaded not guilty, appeared in person before the Bellinzona police court last Monday after objecting to a fine of CHF9,450 ($10,373) and one for CHF1,850 in December 2022.
The verdict had been postponed from April 15 to April 22. A spokesperson informed the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA that the panel of judges required more time to reach a verdict.
There was no ideology to discriminate against homosexuals, said Judge Petra Vanoni on Monday, in one of the first sentences after the Swiss people, on February 9, 2020, accepted the extension of the anti-racism rule to prevent any discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
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Charge by Pink Cross
The professor had been accused of discrimination and incitement to hatred because he had authorised the publication of an article by a Polish theologian in the German Catholic monthly magazine Theologisches. The text compared homosexuals within the church to “a cancer, unscrupulous parasites and a gay mafia”.
The man was reported to the police by Pink Cross, the umbrella organisation for gay and bisexual men in Switzerland. The defendant’s lawyer demanded an acquittal for his client, as the article in question did not contain any attacks on all homosexuals, but only on those who had “tainted” themselves with paedophile crimes within the church.
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Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/ts
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