A New South Wales man became the first person to be convicted over hate speech directed at people who are transgender.
Thomas Fordham, 27, was sentenced last week to a community corrections order over a series of comments he made on YouTube videos where he called for a genocide of transgender people.
The platform quickly removed the comments he made on videos by American transgender rights activist Mercury Stardust, but the judge hearing the case said that did not negate the seriousness of the offence.
Magistrate Christopher Halburd acknowledged that the offender experienced many mental health challenges, but said the crime was still a serious one, according to a report in The Guardian.
“In essence, this is an invitation on social media for a genocide,” Halburd said.
“These were exhortations directed against a class of people who were distributed across the globe.”
Fordham pleaded guilty to two charges: threatening or inciting violence on grounds of gender identity – which carries a potential three-year prison sentence and $11,000 fine – and failing to comply with a digital evidence access order direction.
It is the first time a prosecution has been based around transgender vilification since the laws were changed in 2018.
