Abstract

Notwithstanding a general commitment to free speech, the workplace in most Western democracies (including the US) is governed by strict laws concerning anti-discrimination and harassment that impose restrictions on the content of speech. Following the UK Equality Act (2010), British employment law now operates with categories of “protected” and “prohibited” speech. Employment Tribunals face the task of assessing whether various beliefs are worthy of democratic respect, a minimal requirement for earning “protected” status. In recent years, a number of academics and researchers have got into hot water for their defense of gender-critical views, which their gender identity critics consider a form of hate speech. This paper defends a democratic theory of hate speech and argues that gender-critical feminists like Maya Forstater and Jo Phoenix cannot be found guilty of hate speech. More generally, the paper argues that the categorial approach to speech in the workplace should be abandoned and the current understanding of speech as a form of “harassment” should be revised.