QUESTION
How can this example be slander/libel?
Asked on Oct 29th, 2017 on Libel, Slander and Defamation - New York
More details to this question:
A random example: Imagine I knew a man who was an in-the-closet gay man and wanted to keep his sexuality a secret. He would sue someone who openly called him gay... but, what if someone were to IMPLY he was gay by stating he wasn't? e.g. "I would just like to state that I believe there is NO way David is a gay man...if anyone says he is gay, they are wrong. He does NOT like to kiss men, he does NOT like to fondle them and at NO time has he been caught naked doing unspeakable acts with another man. Any statements saying he is a raging homosexual are false and he does NOT like tight buns", etc. This must be ok to do, right? How can it be against the law to state the opposite of what you are implying?
1 ANSWER
Civil Rights Law Attorney serving Rockville Centre, NY
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Lori Nevias, Attorney at Law
1 Award
There are two things you can call a person that, if you can prove they called you this and also prove damages, could form the basis of a slander complaint: a murderer, or an adulterer.
Calling someone gay- and certainly "implying" someone is a homosexual- is not slander. Calling a person "gay" is no longer considered a slur. It is illegal to discriminate against someone because they are homosexual, so how can it be illegal to call someone homosexual? It isn't.
That being said, whether or not the person in question is gay or straight, this scenario begs the question of why someone would feel the need to antagonize another person over their sexual orientation, whatever it may be. I hope this conversation (if it isn't completely hypothetical) isn't taking place at work, because it could form the basis of a sexual harassment complaint against the antagonizer- regardless of whether it was stated or implied.
Answered on Oct 30th, 2017 at 6:30 PM