"On Thursday House Republican negotiators rejected a Senate-approved proposal to include crimes targeting gay men and lesbians in the nation's federal hate-crimes law.
The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA) would have added real or perceived sexual orientation, gender and disability to federal hate crime laws, thus allowing the federal government the ability to provide assistance for the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes based on these categories.
Current hate crime laws cover offenses based on race, color, religion or national origin." - Planetout news network
I personally feel that this is goverment sponsored homophobia. This bill passed with fairly large bipartisan support in both the senate (65-33) and in the house of reps (213-186). The bill was struck down by the republican leadership of the house of representatives, even after broad support from congress. This shows clear bias against gays. If they are going to have hate crime laws, they shouldn't exclude certain groups from coverage. This law basically says that its ok to beat someone for being gay, but its not ok to beat them for being catholic. beating a person is always wrong. I honestly feel the need for a hate crimes law in general to be a bit extreme (a beating is a beating, its always going to be wrong, why should it be more wrong because of sexual identity or race or any other factor) but if they are going to have a bill protecting groups from crime, then it should be all inclusive. It should not be limited to only the heterosexual population, it should not be limited to only gays, it should not be only based on race, age, or gender, it should take EVERYTHING into account. Because the addition to the bill protecting the gay/lesbian community (however, this bill did leave out transgendered people) was over ruled, i feel that this is a blatant example of homophobia in the goverment, the very people who should be there protecting us. I urge everyone to think not only about the war in iraq in the coming election, but to also think about the civil rights of americans, and support candidates that support everyone. If they can veto laws that would protect millions of americans, just imagine what else they can do with a guilt-free conscience.
To be honest, I agree with you. In our government these days everything doesn't focus on what really needs to be done with our economy of our counrty any more but with what we are scared of. Nowadays i seem to think that the only real reason that they are trying so hard to put a stop to all the rights of homosexuals is because they are scared. Yes, they are part of the government, but it's like putting a stop to something that can't be stopped. No matter how much they try to put a stop to hate crimes, it's always bound to exclude some rights that belongs to a citizen in the country. Personally, i think gays and lesibans has as much rights as everyone else. Their sexuality shouldn't matter because everyone was taught that if we want to be treated with respect we should treat people that way also. To me, targeting people because of their sexually it a sign of disrespect since i don't see anyone targeting people who are heterosexual.
Posted by: thaox075 at October 11, 2004 08:49 PMI honnestly didn't know this until I read it on the Blog. I can't believe any one can think that targeting Gays and Lesbians is not a hate crime. It says it right in the name HATE. If you hate someone for something that they can not control then it is a hate crime. But if you go with that reasoning you hit the topic if homosexuality is born or created. and I think that is were people are getting stuck on the matter. Think about when you were just realizing the other sex and how you felt, you couldn't help it you were just straight. Now if when you hit that age and insted of realizing the other sex you were realizing how your sex looked, you counld help that eather. So how can attacking someone for something that they can not control not be a hate crime. If you don't like what or who they are it seems pritty hateful to me.
Posted by: Amanda at October 12, 2004 12:10 PMAmanda,
As far as your post concerning hate crimes and how i ask you this: What if someone really HATES a member of your family for some random reason...is that a hate crime? What if someone just randomly kills someone who turns out to be gay, does that that mean they deserve a more severe punishment?
I think the punishment should be dealt with in regards to how the crime is comitted, not who its comtted against. Example: Someone who shoots someone in the head because that person is gay should recieve a greater penalty than someone who kills someone in a more torturous manner? It doesn't make any sense, the crime should be dealt with by itself, not by who its done against.
joseph goss
Posted by: Joseph Goss at October 12, 2004 02:55 PMI agree that "hate crimes" should not have higher penalties - a crime is a crime. But I also agree with the point of the original post - If this nation is going to have higher penalties for "hate crimes", then the higher penalities must also apply to sexual orientation and gender based "hate crimes". To do otherwise is obviously discriminatory.
Posted by: Matt Tyler at October 16, 2004 01:00 AMim a teenager myself and there are massive number of pupils in my school who commit crimes and get away with it. for this i blame the government! they need punishment! i mean real punishment like it used to be!
Posted by: laura at March 8, 2005 10:02 AMI agree with you about the way you view the issue. I remember, long time ago, Jack London said something like "Everything positive has a negative side; everything negative has a positive side." I also find it interesting to see different points of views and learn useful things in the discussion.
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