Activists Wait for Senate Action on Gay Hate Crimes Bill
WASHINGTON -- Supporters and opponents of legislation that will expand hate-crimes protections to homosexuals continue to wait on a Senate vote on a defense authorization bill that includes the controversial measure.
No Senate vote had been scheduled as of Tuesday on the 2010 defense authorization bill to which the hate-crimes provision has been attached, although a vote could come this week. The House of Representatives voted 281-146 on Oct. 8 for the overall proposal after it came out of a conference committee made up of members of both chambers.
President Obama has pledged to sign the legislation if the Senate passes it. Obama promised to sign the bill into law at an Oct. 10 dinner sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, which describes itself as the country's largest civil rights organization for homosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered persons.
As included in the conference committee's report, the bill would give the U.S. attorney general the authority to investigate crimes that are "motivated by prejudice" based on the "actual or perceived ... sexual orientation [or] gender identity" of a person. It also adds disability to the list of protected categories.
"Sexual orientation" includes homosexuality and bisexuality, while "gender identity," or transgendered status, takes in transsexuals and cross-dressers.
Social conservative groups are urging their constituents to contact their senators and urge them to a) pull the hate crimes measure from the defense bill, or, if that is not successful b) defeat the defense authorization bill outright. (Senators can be contacted through the capitol switchboard (202-224-3121) or online (http://capwiz.com/ethics/dbq/officials).
The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and others oppose efforts to expand hate-crimes protections based not only on their inclusion of categories defined by sexual behavior or identity but also because of concerns about the potential impact on religious freedom.
They fear the measure, combined with existing law, could expose to prosecution Christians and others who proclaim the Bible's teaching that homosexual behavior and other sexual relations outside marriage are sinful. For example, if a person commits a violent act based on a victim's "sexual orientation" after hearing biblical teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual behavior, the preacher or teacher could be open to a charge of inducing the person to commit the crime, some foes say.
Attaching the hate-crimes language to the defense authorization bill "makes political pawns of our soldiers," ERLC President Richard Land said in an Oct. 12 e-mail alert.
"For Christians, the full implications are unknown but certainly troublesome," Land said.
During debate before the House vote, Rep. Mike Pence, R.-Ind., said he "disdains" discrimination but that approval of the hate-crimes legislation would hinder religious speech.
"Under Section 2 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code today," Pence said, "an individual may be held criminally liable who aids, abets, counsels, commands or induces or procures in the commission of a federal crime. Therefore, to put a fine point on it, any pastor, preacher, priest, rabbi or imam who may give a sermon out of their moral traditions about sexual practices could presumably under this legislation be found to have aided, abetted or induced in the commission of a federal crime. This will have a chilling effect on religious expression from the pulpits, in our temples, in our mosques and in our churches."
Persons convicted of a hate crime would be subject to more prison time and penalties than persons who commit a crime that falls outside the class of hate crimes.
Already protected in hate-crimes laws are such classifications as race, national origin and religion.
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Living in both south carolina and north carolina and florida, i have to many times been haveing the shit beat out of me by these so called christians... I have been physically violated in all three states, not because i am gay but because i "act gay". The thing i hate about our society is it isnt neccessarily about being gay that causes all the hatred, its the sexesim behind all of the ideas the puts hate toward homos is because of the gender roles society inflicts uppon its people. Take for example, i wear makeup on a occasion, on those occasions i get more death threats and stares on a hourly bases than any straight male i know. What is wrong with a guy wearing makeup? Are girls the only ones alloud to express themselves that way? I have friends that cross dress, one was severly brutalized in a parking lot at the early morning, he doesnt express himself that way anymore, he is too scared to.
Note, my experiences have been only through highschool and college ... But highschool beatings go on, on a daily bases and no one gives a crap. People needs their rights upheld from these so called christians...
The thing is, is that half of the reasons why people are always being attacked is because people in churches and homes are always telling people my age that they are not worth their own lives if they act or are a certain way. They are taught that certain people dont deserve to exist and it is ok to beat on those people.
Most of these teachings are in chruches. (my opinion),
what are we supposed to do about this? what can we do about this?
Sorry i just had to get this out...
PS: i live in NC atm at ECU, i have been physically assaulted twice now, and verbally assaulted countless number of times... What can i say but that i am tired of people preaching how their religious rights are at stake, especially when my own physical rights are at stake every day...
No hate crime legislation in this country has ever compromised free speech or religious freedom . KKK'ers spout "racial purity" all the time, and yet, not one of them has ever been sent to jail for making a general hate- speech against blacks or Jews.
Now, if they stand up in public and say something specific like, "Go out today, buy a gun, and kill your black neighbor," then, yeah, that would qualify as incitement to commit a crime . THAT'S not covered by free speech.
But no, this bullpucky about all the imaginary priests, preachers, pastors, rabbis, imams, gurus and what-have-you that will be "sent to jail" or "prosecuted for hate crimes " because they called " homosexuality " a "sin" from the pulpit is just so much more of the same, everyday, typical lying, fear-mongering, prejudicial garbage that anti-gay folks (like the Baptist Press) love to spout on a regular basis, in hopes of getting people worked up enough to call their congressional representatives and try to thwart the protection of real people from real criminals motivated by real hatred.
Unless said preacher, pastor, priest, imam, rabbi, or what-have-you, is actually standing up in the pulpit and saying, "Go out, get big baseball bat and beat up a queer today! God'll love ya for it!" they have nothing to fear.
Stop it already. Enough of the B.S.
And yet they are afraid. The problem isn't ministers that preach against gays . The problem is with ministers like Fred Phelps. Rev. Phelps would be guilty of hate crimes .
Actually, I think even Phelps would get away with most everything he says, hateful as it is. He says it is good that gays should die from AIDS , suggests that "God hates fags," and numerous other disgusting pieces of coprolalia, but rarely, if ever, have I heard him either make a direct, concrete threat against a specific gay person, or publicly urge someone else to commit an actual crime against a gay person. He seems to know just how to toe the line, and as long as he doesn't do either of those two things I just mentioned, he's not going to get in trouble, no matter how much crap he spews. He is within his rights of free speech and freedom of religion .
Rev. Phelps can say whatever he wants but when he pickets funerals with signs that say, Fags will burn in hell, he is guilty of intimidation.
Yes, there have been some ground rules established regarding his picketing of funerals (funny, but no one ever cared too much about the crap he pulled until he moved from just directing it at us fags to waving it around at military funerals).
But he still won't be prosecuted under hate crime laws unless he makes direct threats or directly incites others to violence.