Religious Speech that Undermines Gender Equality

Abstract

The struggle for gender equality has often been in direct conflict with religious teachings and other forms of speech enunciated by religious leadership. This chapter addresses the issue of religious speech that offends the value of gender equality and the question of how a liberal state should respond to such speech. It develops an argument that attempts to take seriously the legitimate claims of both religious speakers and women who are committed to gender equality, while also acknowledging that these two groups are not mutually exclusive. The chapter commences with some examples of religious hate speech that is harmful to notions of gender equality. It then outlines two models of speech (..