"Anti-Gay Attacks are Hate Crimes"

So in the NYT on Friday October 9 there was a story about a piece of legislation going through Congress that would expand the qualification of a federal hate crime to include sexual orientation and other gender issues.

Here's a link to a similar story run by NPR.

I read this article and felt like I wanted to talk about it. I read some of the responses from some GOP leaders, such as Rep. John Boehner, and I was disheartened by them. Here's one in particular that I did not like:

"The idea that we're going to pass a law that's going to add further charges to someone based on what they may have been thinking, I think is wrong"

Another comment I was frustrated with was by my very own Representative, Mr. Todd Akin:

"We believe this [piece of social agenda] is a poison pill"

Now I do not doubt that both Boehner and Akin are opposed to violence against the LGBT community. That is an unnecessary fight to pick. What I do find offensive is that they do not see the fundamental difference between an assault and an assault driven by hatred or bias.

For me, the difference is that an assault can be random, based on anger about a personal relationship, or economically motivated. An assault driven by hate for an identity represents something more insidious. It represents the idea that this person, because of their race/religion/sexual orientation, is inherently offensive and perhaps subhuman.

By adding punishments to crimes of hate, it becomes clear that as a society we believe it is unacceptable to disregard the humanity of anyone based on their sexual orientation. These crimes need to be treated more seriously because they are more serious. Violence against a specific minorities threatens the fabric of a democratic society; if we cannot ensure that every voice is safe, then we cannot ensure that we will have a unified community in the quest for democratic representation.

Also, by making this a federal law, it gives the federal government the ability to investigate and prosecute cases where local authorities fail to, perhaps because they are influenced by the same biases as the perpetrator.

Many have pointed out that assault or murder is already a crime and there is already a punishment, why do we need to be the "thought police" as well. I believe that intent is everything when it comes to crimes. It is a fine line between crimes against humanity and genocide. The reason we establish more serious levels of violation is to establish that we do not support bigotry. Matthew Shepard's murder was gruesome, but it made it so much more despicable that it was motivated by his sexual orientation.

There are also people who are concerned that this legislation will be heavy-handed and enfringe on people's First Amendment right to speak out against LGBT lifestyles. Democrats have pointed out the legislation forbids prosecution of people's individual beliefs or statements.

However, it has to be clear that intent, though important, is very hard to prove. Just like in cases of genocide, the prosecution must make it crystal clear that there was bigoted intent, otherwise the hate crime status is lost. So though it would be a good step, it may not dramatically change the way that crimes are prosecuted.


I do not think this bill is poison, Mr. Akin. I feel like it is a message to our community that it is not acceptable to be violent against anyone based on their identity. I know that most people would not deny that violence is wrong. But I believe this legislation could be a necessary deterrent against people committing crimes based on sexual orientation and perhaps it will highlight the fact that hatred of the LGBT community is not acceptable.