Chile Passes Gay Discrimination Protections Following Daniel Zamudio's Death

It's sad that sometimes it takes a horrific tragedy to prompt legislation that should have been passed years ago. It's also sad that the USA id falling further and further behind other nations in granting all of its citizens non-discrimination protections. What am I talking about? Chile has passed laws enacting LGBT non-discrimination protections in the wake of the horrible death of Daniel Zamudio (pictured above) who was beaten by Neo-Nazis because of his sexual orientation. Meanwhile, LGBT citizens in the USA still have zero federal level protections of this type (here in Virginia, we have none at the state level either). The Washington Post has coverage on this progress in Chile. Here are highlights:

Chile’s Congress passed an anti-discrimination law Wednesday following the killing of a gay man whose attackers beat him and carved swastikas into his body. The House of Deputies approved the law in a close 58-56 vote, seven years after it was first proposed. The Senate passed the law in November.

President Sebastian Pinera had urged lawmakers to accelerate approval of the law after 24-year-old Daniel Zamudio died March 27. Zamudio’s death came more than three weeks after he was attacked, and his case set off a national debate about hate crimes in Chile.

Four suspects have been jailed, some of whom already have criminal records for attacks on gays. Prosecutors have asked for murder charges in the case.

Zamudio, a clothing store salesman, was attacked in a park in Santiago on March 3. The suspects allegedly beat him for an hour, burning him with cigarettes and carving Nazi symbols into his body. After Zamudio died last week, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights called for Chile to pass new laws against hate crimes and discrimination.

Some Protestant churches had opposed the anti-discrimination law, saying it could be a first step toward gay marriage, which Chile forbids and which is not explicitly included in the measure. The Roman Catholic Church also expressed some concerns about the law.

The law describes as illegal discrimination “any distinction, exclusion or restriction that lacks reasonable justification, committed by agents of the state or individuals, and that causes the deprivation, disturbance or threatens the legitimate exercise of fundamental rights.”

Note that the Catholic Church and other "godly Christian" types opposed the legislation. Once again, we see Christianity as a foul and toxic force in favor of discrimination and bigotry and the mistreatment of others. WWJD?