Should hate be illegal in the first place ? I don ' t think it should . The Thought Police are not something I want to see outside of 1984 . I think actions should be illegal . Not thoughts or words . Now in your example the thought is manifested as an action when the boss addresses his coworker with the wrong pronouns . However , remove hate from the equation and tell me why addressing someone by the wrong name or pronouns should be illegal . What I ' m saying is if only actions should be illegalnot thoughts or ideasshould this particular action be punishable by jail time ? Vandalism , murder , arson these are crimes regardless of motive . Speaking to someone should never be a crime . And yet that ' s where we are . If what you say makes someone uncomfortable suddenly you ' ve committed a crime . It ' s ridiculous .