It Begins: They Are Now Calling The Bible Hate Speech…

Former interior minister Päivi Räsänen has gone on trial in Helsinki accused of inciting anti-LGBT+ hate speech.

She is accused of describing homosexuality as a “disorder of psychosexual development” and labeling homosexuals as “dysfunctional”.

After her controversial trial in court, she pleaded non-guilty to four charges of “inciting violence against a minority group” after condemning same-sex marriage in several writings and tv show appearances.

Paivi Rasanen: Finnish MP in Bible hate speech trial.
Ponder this investigation and you see the absurdity of criminalizing so called hate speech.
What is next? A banning of ALL holy books? Houses of worship? Maybe even religion itself? https://t.co/4ytMTR6I9b

— Ayaan Hirsi Ali (@Ayaan) February 16, 2022

Meanwhile, 3,000 people gathered in front of the Finnish Embassy in Budapest on Sunday for a sympathy rally in support of Finnish politician and former Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen. Today, on Monday, her trial continues. The politician is suspected of committing a hate crime against LGBTIQ groups.

France 24 News has more of the story:

Paivi Rasanen, a former interior minister and Christian Democrats leader, denies all four charges of incitement against a minority group, which relate to a radio show appearance and online writings about same-sex relationships.

Rasanen described homosexuality as a “psychosexual developmental disorder” and said that homosexual people are “dysfunctional”.

One charge related to a June 2019 tweet in which the long-time parliamentarian criticised the Finnish Lutheran church for partnering with that year’s Pride celebrations, accusing the organisation of “elevating shame and sin to a subject of pride”.

The post was accompanied by a photo of a New Testament passage which described homosexual acts as “shameful” and “unnatural”.

“The statement is an affront to the equality and dignity of homosexuals and is likely to provoke contempt, intolerance and even hatred towards homosexuals,” prosecution documents were seen by AFP via France 24 News.

“Now is the time for Christians to be open about their faith, and tell openly about the message of the Bible, and especially about the message of the gospel,” – @PaiviRasanen https://t.co/K8yGU6wSQZ

— Jonah Wendt 🦬 (@jonah_wendt) February 17, 2022

Fox news also added:

“Police are investigating a Christian politician in Finland for an alleged “hate crime” because she shared a Bible verse on Facebook to criticize a national church that participated in LGBT Pride festivities.

In the post, congresswoman Päivi Räsänen, a Christian Democrat, criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland for participating in the Helsinki LGBT Pride events in June. Her criticism was alongside a picture of Romans 1:24-27 that describes same-sex relationships as “shameful.”

Her post made Räsänen the subject of a pretrial investigation by the Finnish Police for a suspected incitement against sexual and gender minorities.

“The pre-trial investigations have not yet been completed. Police will provide more details once the investigations have been completed or presented to a prosecutor for consideration of charges,” the Helsinki Police Department officer in charge of the investigation told the Helsinki Times.

This is the biblical verse that has pushed the Former interior minister Päivi into court.