Queen Elizabeth II passed away last week. She was ninety – six – years – old.
The news of her passing has left many grief – stricken. A national day of mourning has been called for the 22 September. Australia will join the mourning, with businesses closing down as a mark of respect.
Mourners have come from around tge world; including Australia and the U.S. However, not everyone has been grieving. In fact, some have been disrespectful.
Professor wished Queen a “excruciating death”
A Carnegie Mellon University professor had a tweet degrading the Queen censored.
According to The Intercept, Professor Uju Anya wrote:
I heard the chief monarch of a thieving, raping, genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.
Uju Anya via Twitter 9 September 2022
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was quick to condemn the tweet. Twitter was quick to deem the tweet “abusive” and Twitter removed it.
Secular Talk’s Kyle Kulinski pointed outvthat Anya is friends with a pro – Union protestor. Bezos has fought tooth and nail against unions.
NRLW player kicked out of Round over Instagram post
Last Friday (9 September), Newcastle Knight’s Caitlin Moran was penalised for an Instagram post degrading the Queen. Moran used a derogatory term against her (I won’t repeat it).
The tweet was deleted eight hours later. On Tuesday, the NRL banned Moran for a game and 25% of her pay was cut. The NRL has also ordered Moran to undergo education on appropriate social media use.
Newcastle Knights’ coach, Ronald Griffiths defended Moran:
The relationship bwtween Indigenous people and the monarchy is a complicated one.
If Caitlin has done something, then it will be investigated by the Integrity Unit and we’ll work our way through the process.
Ronald Griffiths
The NRL rejected Griffiths’ defence, condemning Moran’s comments as unacceptable. They claimed that players were expected to not make comments that could potentially cause “damage to the game”.
Lastly (on this incident), the NRL has been accused of double standards. People have highlighted the belated suspension of Penrith Panthers’ Taylan May.
May was found guilty of assault after Panthers’ premiership win last year. His two match susoension has been suspended.
There are calls for the NRL to reverse Moran’s ban and apologise,
The Markle effect
Let me start by saying this. Queen Elizabth II’s death is devastating for those who knew and loved her.
That said, the Queen’s death has obviously opened a can of worms. The legacy of the British Empire is still felt. And it’s not all positive.
What Anya and Moran said was disrespectful. And probably attention seeking, to be honest.
However, I can’t help but think the panalities they faced were excessive. They should have been called out and criticised. They should have been debated.
People don’t have to like what they said. Remember the whole ‘I may not like what you say, but I’ll defend the right to say it’?
This is about power. This is about how the British Monarchy has become something to be protected at all costs. I have felt this since Meghan Markle left the UK and took Prince Harry to the US.
Since then, criticism of the monarchy hasn’t been tolerated. To me it’s defending the status quo.
I don’t condone disrespect. But you either defend free speech or you don’t.
