A bill proposed by Michigan Democrat state Rep. Noah Arbit would criminalize speech that makes a victim feel “threatened.” 

Under the new proposal, a person can be found guilty of a hate crime “regardless of the existence of any other motivating factors” if said person “intimidates another individual.” (RELATED: Ireland Crushes Free Speech)

According to the amendment, “intimidation” would be redefined as “a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable individual to feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened, and that actually causes the victim to feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened.” Punishment for a hate crime would include imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of up to $10,000. 

The proposed amendment, House Bill No. 4474, passed in the Michigan House of Representatives on June 20 and would alter the state’s Ethnic Intimidation Act of 1988. 

The bill’s language allows the victim to determine whether an action is “threatening” and, thus, a hate crime; so long as an individual feels threatened, he or she actually is. Therefore, law enforcement must determine whether a victim’s feelings — instead of the victim’s injuries — are enough to press charges.

Who Determines What Hate Speech Is?

The proposed amendment to the bill “does not include constitutionally protected activity.” However, aside from this meager acknowledgment of First Amendment rights, the rest of the bill is incompatible with freedom of speech. 

Arbit, the bill’s sponsor, cited rising hate crimes against LGBTQ people as one of the motivations behind the amendment. 

Despite warnings about increasing anti-LGBTQ violence from both the media and President Joe Biden, whether there has been any tangible spike in anti-LGBTQ hate crimes remains to be substantively proven.

But the bill faces another practical dilemma: It seeks to protect a demographic that disproportionately lends itself to mental illnesses that distort one’s perception of reality, including depression, anxiety, and narcissistic personality disorder. 

People who identify as LGBTQ report higher rates of depression and anxiety than non-LGBTQ people. One study also found that homosexuality in males and narcissism are highly correlated.

Both narcissists and people diagnosed with anxiety and depression do not tend to take well to any level of criticism. People with narcissistic personality disorder tend to find criticism incredibly threatening — as do those suffering from anxiety or depression.

This bill tramples the First Amendment while catering to groups with a strong tendency to exaggerate the criticism they face. What could go wrong? 

Emma Verrigni is a rising sophomore at Hillsdale College studying history and journalism. A member of The American Spectator’s 2023 intern class, Emma enjoys reading philosophy and the news.

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