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Welsh magistrate under investigation after "anti-gay" comments

A British magistrate has agreed to a suspension from judiciary duties and is under investigation after he said on a radio programme that homosexuality is associated with paedophilia. When asked his opinions on homosexuals, Byron Butler told the BBC current affairs programme Week in Week Out, "We haven't got much time for them," reports Hilary White, LifeSiteNews.com.

"Well, I think probably it's a suspicion of the mainstream that they perhaps will interfere with young people and so on and that's historically been the case. That is the danger," he said.

"Paedophiles, solidophiles [sic], not necessarily, but they do, don't they. That's the reality."

The 67 year-old Butler, a retired butcher in Clos Manteg, Broadlands, Wales, is under investigation by the Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace in Mid Glamorgan in response to a complaint that was made after the programme aired. Mr. Butler could be made to undergo "additional training" if the complaint is upheld.

Butler has been a magistrate for 30 years, is a former Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Mid Glamorgan, and would have deputised for the Queen's official representative in the county.

Tony Seculer, clerk to the justices at Bridgend Magistrates' Court, said, "Following comments made by Mr. Byron Butler JP on the BBC Wales programme Week In Week Out broadcast on March 11, the Mid Glamorgan Advisory Committee is instigating a conduct investigation in accordance with the system for handling magistrates' conduct, pastoral and training issues."

"Pending resolution of the matter, Mr Butler has agreed not to sit as a magistrate."

Since the passage a year ago of the Sexual Orientation Regulations, secondary legislation under the Equality Act, many Christian and other traditionally minded people in Britain have warned that Britons are losing the freedom to object to homosexuality in public.

Legislation under consideration by the Labour government that is similar to laws already in force outlawing persecution on religious or racial grounds, will criminalise anyone who expresses his views in ways that homosexuals claim may lead to bullying or harassment. Some have complained that the maximum sentence proposed is longer than that usually given convicted rapists.

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[04/08/2008]

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