The U.S. House will vote this week on a bill that would add sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to the federal hate crimes law. We don’t need it. Some gays say that they would oppose it if no one else was covered by such laws, but since they are we are. But we don’t need to insist that we are a minority needing special protection by the thought crime police. All these bills do is create enhanced penalties for behavior that is already illegal. Beating me up because I’m gay should lead to the same punishmennt for the perp as beating me up to get my wallet. It would be the unusual thug who intended to gay bash but, because of the possibility of an enhanced punishment under a law he probably doesn’t know exists, decides not to.
For more on this issue, see my column on the right entitled, “If Only I had some Protection.”
May 1, 2007 at 11:53 am
[...] Michael not Mike comments on adding homosexuals as a targeted group for hate crimes: The U.S. House will vote this week on a bill that would add sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to the federal hate crimes law. We don’t need it. Some gays say that they would oppose it if no one else was covered by such laws, but since they are we are. But we don’t need to insist that we are a minority needing special protection by the thought crime police. All these bills do is create enhanced penalties for behavior that is already illegal. Beating me up because I’m gay should lead to the same punishment for the perp as beating me up to get my wallet. [...]
May 1, 2007 at 12:54 pm
[...] This is flat wrong: The U.S. House will vote this week on a bill that would add sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to the federal hate crimes law. We don’t need it. Some gays say that they would oppose it if no one else was covered by such laws, but since they are we are. But we don’t need to insist that we are a minority needing special protection by the thought crime police. All these bills do is create enhanced penalties for behavior that is already illegal. Beating me up because I’m gay should lead to the same punishmennt for the perp as beating me up to get my wallet. It would be the unusual thug who intended to gay bash but, because of the possibility of an enhanced punishment under a law he probably doesn’t know exists, decides not to. [...]