(no subject)
(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) A bill has been introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature to remove several classifications including gays, lesbians, and the transgendered from the state’s hate crimes law.
The legislation would also remove protections for people who are victims of crimes due to their actual or perceived ancestry, mental or physical disability, and gender.
The bill was sought by two conservative groups who said that the law discourages free speech and is being abused by the Philadelphia district attorney's office.
“It is shameful that legislators are attempting to undermine a needed law that protects some of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Stacey L. Sobel, executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights.
The Ethnic Intimidation Act was amended in 2002 to include gays with the support of two-thirds of the Pennsylvania House and Senate.
The Pennsylvania branches of Concerned Women for America and the American Family Association called for the dropping of gay protections following the arrest last fall of four evangelists who were charged with hate crimes charges following a demonstration at Outfest in Philadelphia.
Sobel, who worked to pass the 2002 legislation, called the groups actions a "knee jerk response".
"Prosecutors around the country and in Pennsylvania have appropriately used hate crimes laws countless times. Just because its use is being questioned in one case does not mean that the law is not good or needed. The legislators should let the courts do their job to ensure that the law is applied fairly to all people."
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have hate crimes statutes including protections based on the real or perceived sexual orientation of a victim. Seven of those states and the District of Columbia also cover gender identity.
Almost 2,000 incidents of anti-LGBT harassment or violence were reported to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs in 2002. The FBI consistently ranks anti-gay violence as the third most frequent form of bias-motivated crime.
"There's no such thing as a 'love' crime," said Nancy Staible , director of the Zelienople-based Concerned Women group. "We'd like to take it all out." But because a wholesale demolition of the law is not likely, "we'll do it by bits and pieces" starting with the gay provisions Staible said.
"These are not ethnic groups in the first place," Staible said.
WHAT. WHAT! DAMN RIGHT WING-ERS! *shunification*
The legislation would also remove protections for people who are victims of crimes due to their actual or perceived ancestry, mental or physical disability, and gender.
The bill was sought by two conservative groups who said that the law discourages free speech and is being abused by the Philadelphia district attorney's office.
“It is shameful that legislators are attempting to undermine a needed law that protects some of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Stacey L. Sobel, executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights.
The Ethnic Intimidation Act was amended in 2002 to include gays with the support of two-thirds of the Pennsylvania House and Senate.
The Pennsylvania branches of Concerned Women for America and the American Family Association called for the dropping of gay protections following the arrest last fall of four evangelists who were charged with hate crimes charges following a demonstration at Outfest in Philadelphia.
Sobel, who worked to pass the 2002 legislation, called the groups actions a "knee jerk response".
"Prosecutors around the country and in Pennsylvania have appropriately used hate crimes laws countless times. Just because its use is being questioned in one case does not mean that the law is not good or needed. The legislators should let the courts do their job to ensure that the law is applied fairly to all people."
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have hate crimes statutes including protections based on the real or perceived sexual orientation of a victim. Seven of those states and the District of Columbia also cover gender identity.
Almost 2,000 incidents of anti-LGBT harassment or violence were reported to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs in 2002. The FBI consistently ranks anti-gay violence as the third most frequent form of bias-motivated crime.
"There's no such thing as a 'love' crime," said Nancy Staible , director of the Zelienople-based Concerned Women group. "We'd like to take it all out." But because a wholesale demolition of the law is not likely, "we'll do it by bits and pieces" starting with the gay provisions Staible said.
"These are not ethnic groups in the first place," Staible said.
WHAT. WHAT! DAMN RIGHT WING-ERS! *shunification*