Matthew Shepard Act to Become Law

In a case of better late than never, the U.S. Senate passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Act which now goes to President Obama for signature into law. There are those who object to hate crimes legislation in general, but if hate crimes are going to specifically protect citizens based on other motives for discrimination, then the LGBT community deserves the same enhanced protections. I am sure the homo-hating extremists of the Christian Right will be wetting themselves while in a crazed frenzy over the Act's passage, but it speak volumes that they have never suggested that they not receive the "special rights" that they would deprive from others. Now, Congress needs to get its ass in gear and take on ENDA and the repeal of DOMA and DADT. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

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The Senate cleared a historic hate crimes bill for President Obama's signature Thursday, approving new federal penalties for attacks on gays and lesbians. The legislation, which was attached to the conference report for the bill outlining the Pentagon's budget, marks the culmination of a years-long fight by civil-rights groups to codify the expanded protections.

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The law broadens the current definition of federal hate crimes -- which covers attacks motivated by race, color, religion or national origin -- to include those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It would also create a new federal crime to cover attacks against U.S. military personnel because of their service. The measure was approved, 68 to 29, with a majority of Republicans voting against it. The House passed the same bill Oct. 8, also with most Republicans opposed. Gay rights groups praised the Senate's action.

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The hate crimes measure is named for Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was murdered in 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a black man who was dragged to death behind a pickup truck in Texas in 1998. Shepard's family founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which helped lobby for the measure that is now set to become law. Offered repeatedly by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the bill had stalled previously in the Senate, and President George W. Bush vowed to veto it if it ever reached his desk.

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Social conservatives argued that the hate crimes bill was in violation of the First Amendment, and a step toward a larger gay-rights agenda they strongly oppose. "Expanding hate crimes puts America in lock step with the stated agenda of homosexual activists who will turn next to the so-called Employment Non-discrimination Act, followed by the repeal of the ban on homosexuality in the military and then the Defense of Marriage Act.," the Family Research Council warned on its Web site.

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My, my - feel the hate emanating from the false Christians at FRC and the Klan loving Tony Perkins.

The Truth About the Hate Crimes Bill

As the professional gay haters and Christianists go into warp drive spreading untruths about the provisions of the Matthew Shepard Act which has been reintroduced in Congress, the ACLU has released a statement that describes the REAL provisions of the bill and which utterly debunks the knowing, deliberate lies being stated over and over by "Godly Christians" like Matt Barber who lives off of the dissemination of lies and hate. Yes, I am angry at how deliberately untruthful these folks are because in the process of spreading the lies they create the very atmosphere that emboldens individuals to bully and dehumanize LGBT citizens. Here are some highlights from the ACLU statement, a full copy of which can be found here (I encourage all readers within the USA to read it and then contact their members of Congress):
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The ACLU has a long record of support for stronger protection of both free speech and civil rights. Those positions are not inconsistent. In fact, vigilant protection of free speech rights historically has opened the doors to effective advocacy for expanded civil rights protections.

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The ACLU appreciates the sponsors’ inclusion of the evidentiary provision that prevents the hate crimes legislation from having any potentially chilling effect on constitutionally protected speech. The evidentiary subsection in the bill provides that:

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Evidence of expression or association of the defendant may not be introduced as substantive evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically relates to that offense. However, nothing in this section affects the rules of evidence governing the impeachment of a witness.

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This provision will reduce or eliminate the possibility that the federal government could obtain a criminal conviction on the basis of evidence of speech that had no role in the chain of events that led to any alleged violent act proscribed by the statute.

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On its face, the hate crimes bill punishes only the conduct of intentionally selecting another person for violence because of that person’s race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The prosecution must prove the conduct of intentional selection of the victim. Thus, the hate crimes bill, like the present principal criminal civil rights statute, 18 U.S.C. § 245 (“section 245”), punishes discrimination (an act), not bigotry (a belief).

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As I have noted countless times, why doesn't the media challenge the deliberately false statements of people like Barber, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, etc. Exposing liars isn't anti-religion and, in fact, supports the Commandment against lying and bearing false witness.

Hate Crimes Vote on April 22, 2009

The re-introduced Hate Crimes Bill will go before the House Judiciary Committee on April 22, 2009, and the hate mongers of the Christian Right are pulling out the stops and disseminating all kinds of flat out lies in an effort to get their sheep like followers to call their Congressman/woman in opposition to the bill. The Uber-Christians would have one believe that Christians are being persecuted and that passage of the bill would punish "thought crimes." The fact that none of the dire things that the Christianists are hyperventilating about are remotely true is irrelevant to these "Godly Christians" who are among the most dishonest people one will ever encounter. Here's a sampling of the trash being put out by the SPLC identified hate group, Traditional Values Coalition:

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Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) have re-introduced H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. It includes “gender identity” as a protected category under federal law. “Gender identity” refers to a male or female who believes they are the opposite sex. This means cross-dressers, drag queens, and transsexuals (known collectively as “transgendered” persons.)

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The so-called hate crimes bill will be used to lay the legal foundation and framework to investigate, prosecute and persecute pastors, business owners, Bible teachers, Sunday School teachers, youth leaders, Christian counselors, religious broadcasters and anyone else whose actions are based upon and reflect the truths found in the Bible.

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Never mind that a requirement for prosecution under the legislation would require an act of actual physical violence against a LGBT individual, not merely anti-gay thoughts or pronouncements. TVC and its disingenuous allies never allow the facts and truth to get in the way of their hate-filled agenda to merge their religious beliefs into the civil laws. To counter the deranged onslaught of misinformed sheeple, I urge readers to contact their congressional representative and voice your support for H.R. 1913. Use this site to contact your member of Congress.

Gays Kicked to the Curb by House Dems: Federal Gay Hate Crime Bill Dies

Once again Congressional Democrats take gay votes and money for granted and will not go to the mat for us on the Matthew Shepard Act. The whining about a veto by the Chimperator is - in my opinion - utterly disingenuous. I don't give a damn if Bush were to veto it. The point is he needs to be put on the spot and forced to veto the legislation. This way he has won without officially doing anything. Chicken shit behavior begets chicken shit results. I have posted contact information below for both Rep. Hoyer - who I might add doesn't even provide an e-mail contact address so as to I assume avoid actually hearing from voters - Rep. Clyburn and Speaker Peolsi. I would urge all U. S. voters to contact them and register your extreme displeasure. Ironically, I just got a call from a Democrat Congressional fund raiser a short while ago and I told them "no, I will not give any money. I am waiting to see some actual results - THEN I will send money." The caller got an earful and was not pleased. Well, neither am I at the moment. Here are some story highlights from 365gay.com (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/12/120607hate.htm):

Washington) The Matthew Shepard Hate Crime bill was removed Thursday from defense authorization legislation. The Shepard Act would have added sexuality to the list of categories covered under federal hate crime law. It passed the House in May and the White House threatened to veto it. (story)

In an effort to get around a veto the Senate version tied the measure to the 2008 defense authorization bill. It passed in September (story) and then went to conference where the two versions of the bill needed to be harmonized for a final vote. Since then the bill has been tied up. (story)

Thursday Senate conferees reluctantly agreed to strip the Shepard Act from the defense bill, realizing that they lack the votes to pass the measure. In a private meeting Wednesday night, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) that if the Senate continued to insist on the hate crimes provision the defense legislation would fail.

"I am deeply frustrated and disappointed with this Congress," said Gordon Smith (R-OR). "The unwillingness of a few to compromise is keeping Matthew’s bill from becoming law. The fight doesn’t stop now. I will pursue every possible option to turn this legislation in law." Gay Democrats had a strong message for their party.

"The Democratic Leadership, which guided this legislation to successful passage in their respective chambers, are now burdened with a moral obligation to see their work completed," said Jon Hoadley, the Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats. "If the National Defense Authorization Act is not the appropriate vehicle for passage, then we encourage the Democratic Leadership to work with our community to find the most expedient way to place this legislation on the President's desk within this Congress."

Here is the contact information. I urge you to voice your concerns and displeasure (I already have):

Rep. Steny Hoyer House Majority Leader, H-107 Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 • 202.225.3130

James E. Clyburn (SC-06) United States House of Representatives H-329, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 (202) 226-3210

http://majoritywhip.house.gov/contact/

Nancy Pelosi, Office of the SpeakerH-232, US Capitol, Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-0100

http://speaker.house.gov/contact/

US Hate Crimes Rose 8 Percent in 2006

Despite this increase and the fact that sexual orientation bias was the motivation for 15.5 percent of the crimes (i.e., 1,197 separate incidents), the Christianists continue to work to blog the addition of sexual orientation to the federal hate crimes law. Naturally, at the same time the Christianists enjoy protection against crimes motivated by religious bias. More of the same old double standard: protect us, but to Hell with anyone we do not like. Not very Christian in my book. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot (:http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HATE_CRIMES?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=HOME):

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hate crime incidents in the United States rose last year by nearly 8 percent, the FBI reported Monday, as racial prejudice continued to account for more than half the reported instances. Police across the nation reported 7,722 criminal incidents in 2006 targeting victims or property as a result of bias against a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin or physical or mental disability. That was up 7.8 percent from the 7,163 incidents reported in 2005.

The 7,722 criminal hate crime incidents involved 9,080 specific criminal offenses, include 5,449 against individuals, 3,593 against property and 38 classified as against society at large. An incident can involve attacks on both people and property.

As has been the case since the FBI began collecting hate crime data in 1991, the most frequent motivation was racial bias, accounting for 51.8 percent of the incidents in 2006. That was down slightly from the 54.7 percent in 2005. Also in 2006, religious bias was blamed for 18.9 percent of the incidents; sexual orientation bias for 15.5 percent, and ethnic or national origin for 12.7 percent.

Senate Votes to Extend Hate-Crimes Law to Gays

Daddy Dobson must be close to having an aneurysm - well, we can hope can't we? - over the Senate's vote on the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act. I was extremely please to see that Virginia's Senator John Warner was among the Republicans who voted for passage of the Act. No doubt, the Christo-fascists will be blowing up the Warner's phone lines. Once again, Warner has shown that his retirement will be a loss for Virginia and the country. Hopefully, Mark Warner [no relation] will win John Warner's seat in 2008. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/27/AR2007092700126.html?hpid=moreheadlines):

The Senate today approved an expansion of federal hate-crimes law to include protections for gay men and lesbians, defying a presidential veto threat by attaching the measure to a high-priority defense bill. Republicans said they will try to remove the provision in final negotiations with the House, but if that effort fails, GOP leaders urged President Bush to follow through with his long-standing veto threat. They were furious this week when Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced that he would force a vote on an expanded hate-crimes statute, with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) calling Reid's maneuver a "shameful" attempt to "hijack" essential defense legislation.

Democrats argued that the amendment addresses terrorism of a different form. "The defense authorization is about dealing with the challenges of terrorism overseas," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). "This is about terrorism in our neighborhood."

The amendment is called the Matthew Shepard Act, named for a young gay man who was beaten and left to die on a fence near Laramie, Wyo., in 1998. The proposal has passed the House or Senate several times over the years but has never cleared the entire Congress.

Under the Senate amendment, the definition of a hate crime would expand to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. Local law enforcement officials would be allowed to apply for federal grants to solve such crimes, and federal agents would be given broader authority to assist state and local police. More stringent federal sentencing guidelines would also be instituted.

Republicans counter that the expansion represents an unnecessary intrusion by the federal government. "We believe that local -- state and local law enforcement agencies are effectively using their laws to the full extent that they can," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

Of course, the White House thinks we are succeeding in Iraq too, so that demonstrates how much the Chimperator's opinion is worth.

Matthew Shepard Act Vote Looming

The U. S. Senate will be voting in the next day or so on the Matthew Shepard Act that would add sexual orientation to the federal hate crimes laws as a protected category. The Christianists are pulling out the stops with lies and deliberate mis-information to stop passage of this important act. Any readers who have not yet done so need to contact their Senators and urge them to vote "Yes."

Another Hate Crime Victim

While the Christianists whine and bemoan the possible enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act, a recent brutal murder in Houston illustrates why the Act is needed. Even though Houston has plenty of police resources, many small jurisdictions do not, and solving a hated crime may only be successful if federal resources are available to assist the locals. Here's the mindset of a Christianist who murdered a gay man (see photo of victim above):

Gay rights activists are furious about the jailhouse claims of a Texas man charged with killing a gay male flight attendant last month. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, murder suspect Terry Mangum, 26, admitted to the murder and said that he had no remorse over the crime, implying his victim got what he deserved. "I believe with all my heart that I was doing the right thing," Mangum told the Houston Chronicle. "I planned on sending him to hell." Mangum, who described himself as "definitely not a homosexual," said in the interview that he'd been called by God to "carry out a code of retribution" against a gay man because "sexual perversion" is the "worst sin."

Kenneth Cummings Jr., 46, was the subject of a massive manhunt after he disappeared early last month. His charred remains were discovered buried on a Houston-area farm reportedly owned by Mangum's grandfather. Mangum admitted to stabbing Cummings to death after luring him from a bar.