Stephen Gray gave nearly 30 years to Cleveland Police. He and his wife foster children. At 65 he has a criminal record because he reposted a meme. The post said: “Fun facts about bacon! People who eat bacon have a lower chance of marrying a 9-year-old!” He told the court it was satire, pointed at the traditional account of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, and meant to start an argument about child marriage. A district judge called it “grossly offensive,” said the jokey tone meant it could not be a serious point, and fined him a bit over £1,000. The Crown Prosecution Service first said there was no case. A neighbour he was already rowing with over a sewage pipe asked for a review. Then there was a case. England abolished blasphemy in 2008. It has not abolished the habit. A man who spent his working life enforcing the law can now be branded a criminal for a Facebook repost that hundreds of other people shared and walked away from. That is not public order. That is a state that has decided some facts are too awkward to joke about, and some people are too ordinary to protect. Stephen Gray is appealing. He should not have to. We now live in a totalitarian state.

Can you tell which daughter is trans! 🤭🤔😂