Share It could see gender, age, subcultures such as goths and sexual fetishists, and asexual people added to the list of protected characteristics covered by the law. The commission's chairman Lord Justice Green acknowledged concerns that their proposed plan to include comments made in private homes could result in people being prosecuted for 'the mere giving of offence'. In England and Wales, speech stirring up hatred is only a potential offence when said in public, or in a private place where it can be listened to from outside. Dinner table conversation will not lead to a police probe and a potential prison sentence, law chiefs say