Posted on 03/26/2026 9:19:03 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen was found guilty of hate speech and fined by the Supreme Court of Finland on Thursday over a pamphlet describing homosexuality as a psychosexual development disorder more than 20 years ago.
Räsänen, who led Finland's Christian Democratic Party from 2004 to 2015 and served as the country's interior minister from 2011 to 2015, was found guilty in a slim 3-2 decision of "making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group," according to a press release from the U.S.-based legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International.
Police first began investigating the grandmother of 12 in response to criminal complaints shortly after Räsänen's 2019 tweet in which she quoted Romans 1:24–27 to rebuke the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland for promoting LGBT "pride month." She questioned how the church could agree with "shame and sin" being presented as "a matter of pride."
Investigators later dredged up a pamphlet she published in 2004 with Bishop Juhana Pohjola of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, titled "Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity."
At one point, the pamphlet argues that homosexuality is disordered, which the court found was an opinion that could "insult homosexuals as a group on the basis of their sexual orientation."
The court noted that "it must be taken into account that the text forming the basis for the conviction did not contain incitement to violence or comparable threat-like fomenting of hatred. The conduct is therefore not particularly serious in terms of the nature of the offense."
Convicted under Chapter 11 of the Finnish Penal Code, which deals with "agitation against a minority group," Räsänen was ordered to pay a fine of 1,800 euros ($2,080), and the court prohibited physical and digital copies of the pamphlet from being distributed following the ruling.
In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Räsänen recalled being disturbed by her church's participation in the 2019 Helsinki LGBT Pride march, noting that the police investigation dragged out as she and Pohjola were repeatedly dragged to court.
She and Pohjola faced their third trial last October, despite being unanimously acquitted twice by the Helsinki Court of Appeal and the three-judge District Court of Helsinki.
The Supreme Court acquitted Räsänen over the initial 2019 tweet that sparked the prosecution against her in the first place, arguing that she "justified her opinion by citing a biblical text" among other things.
Räsänen said she was "shocked and profoundly disappointed" by the high court's ruling, and accused them of failing "to recognize my basic human right to freedom of expression."
"I stand by the teachings of my Christian faith, and will continue to defend my and every person’s right to share their convictions in the public square," she said.
“I am taking legal advice on a possible appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. This is not about my free speech alone, but that of every person in Finland. A positive ruling would help to prevent other innocent people from experiencing the same ordeal for simply sharing their beliefs."
Paul Coleman, who serves as executive director of ADF International, condemned the ruling as "an outrageous example of state censorship," based on a law that did not exist when Räsänen's pamphlet was written.
"This decision will create a severe chilling effect for everyone’s right to speak freely," he warned.
In a statement in 2024, Coleman likened Räsänen's case to something from the Middle Ages and warned of "creeping censorship" afflicting the historically free nations of Europe.
"In a democratic Western nation in 2024, nobody should be on trial for their faith — yet throughout the prosecution of Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola, we have seen something akin to a 'heresy' trial, where Christians are dragged through court for holding beliefs that differ from the approved orthodoxy of the day," Coleman said.
Last month, Räsänen attended a prayer gathering of national repentance at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., before testifying to the U.S. Congress about the growing hostility toward free speech in Europe.
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Is the song “Dude looks like a lady” homophobic?
We need to extricate their government’s leaders, next.
Oh, heck. I knew Western Europe was gone, lost in disgusting woke quicksand.
But Finland, too?
He’s not wrong.
Wow.
And all those white Christian European nations letting violent uneducated inbred Muslims who will be throwing homos off building in Helsinki once they control the entire country.
Luckily in the USA “Ex Post Facto” laws aren’t allowed.
I suppose that merely "citing one's own conscience" just wouldn't cut the mustard, huh?
Regards,
From the excerpt:
Police first began investigating the grandmother of 12 in response to [...]Regards,
Finland does have a constitution.
It does have a freedom of speech provision.
But, and it’s a big but....
Finland is also a signatory to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
And according to Article 10 of the European Convention, freedom of expression can only be restricted by law and for reasons that...
“…are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.”
All these people that are caught up in the Epstein issue have to do is start identifying as LGBTQP+! Fly their flag PROUDLY and emphasize the “P” which is in the PLUS. Yes PEDOPHILE is a sexual orientation! Turn this around on their own sick perverted heads. If they tell you pedophilia is not a sexual orientation call them out as bigots. Now the European court can defend telling all those Jeffrey Epstein victims that they can stand down from their lawsuits. If they (the young girl “victims” of Epstein) pursue going after the pedophiles they will have their cases thrown out because of, well you know, celebrating the LGBTQP+ perversity diversity! Prince Andrew should go to the King immediately with his case. He needs to be reinstated immediately or he will take his case to the European court! His pedophilia is just being misunderstood! Finland is lost! Unbelievable that the text of the Bible in a European nation is bigotry. God have mercy on their souls.
homosexuality is disordered, which the court found was an opinion that could “insult homosexuals as a group on the basis of their sexual orientation.”
..............
This.
Insults as a criminal act.
Total power in the hands of others who can arbitrarily decide what is insulting and criminalize.
Started with the so called N word
No...nor freedom of religion.
The world will be running towards Islam for it has no tolerance about this.
And that may be the point
No, actually.
The Fourth Reich grows day by day.
meh… $2,100 fine.
the faggots don’t think much of themselves
Many people forget the NAZI party started in a Gay bar in Munich called the “Bratwurstgloeckl” (house of the long sausage). All of the men who started the party were German soldiers and sailors who had been kicked out of service for buggery and sodomite acts. Hitler, who was accused of being a rent-a-boy in Vienna and Munich, was the least tarnished of the bunch.
She isn’t wrong...but after 22 years she was arrested? Stupid!! If I lived in Finland and I said something that is fine, but 20 years later, I could be arrested because a view changed? That’s stupid!!
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