In the days leading up to the passing of the federal hate crime bill by the senate their was a national hoopla within the conservative pit. Republicans around the country questioned why GLBT individuals would need added protections in what I believe will become an embarrassment that will be yet another scar on American history.
A young man was beaten to death in 1998. With dirty blond hair, a bright smile, and an even brighter future, the University of Wyoming student had the whole world ahead of him. Though his life was cut short, the image of a young man so bloodied and disfigured that he was mistaken for a scarecrow by a passing bicyclist has been burned into the minds of millions of Americans. As a result of his death, the Matthew Shepard Bill has taken his name. It expands federal hate crime legislation to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals, as well as those with disabilities.
More than a decade later, it has yet to be signed into law, though new hope has been placed in the Democratic congressional majority. President Obama has stated his determination to support the act, which has been thrown out by Congress several times. Opposition has reached new levels of absurdity as conservatives attempt to justify not protecting gays and lesbians under federal hate crime law.
[It’s likely Obama will sign the bill with my paragraph above being written before the senate vote. This inevitability however hasn’t stopped conservatives from wriggling to the very end.]
Republicans have made statements against the bill that have consistently made headlines and left people awe-struck. Representative Virginia Foxx is a prime example. She said, “The Matthew Shepard Bill is named after a very unfortunate incident in which a young man was killed, but we know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery, it wasn’t because he was gay. The bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax.” She said this while Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mother, was sitting in the audience, listening to the congresswoman insult her life’s work and her son’s sacrifice. Statements like this one don’t change the fact that every year there are hundreds of hate crimes committed against members of the GLBT community.
The main argument against the act is based on fears that it would provide special protections to gays and lesbians, and would allow the prosecution of priests and rabbis who preach against homosexuality. The reasoning is that they would be fingered as the cause of the actions of those who commit violent crimes. However, a case against them would not hold up in a court of law, because of their first amendment rights—the same amendment that has often protected leaders of Aryan superiority groups.
Claims that GLBT citizens would have special protections are muddied by the fact that they would only receive the same protection as other minority groups under federal law. Some argue that they are already protected by existing laws against violent crime, making an added severity in punishment based on the sexual orientation of the victim unconstitutional. What conservative law makers have forgotten is that hate crimes are not just violent acts; they serve to strike terror into a group of people. This nation prides itself on taking a strong stand against terror, but fails to prevent it at home.
Deep A** Shit 