Sexual Orientation gets "Hate Crime" Protection
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/washington/03cnd-hate.html?ex=1335931200&en=96265cbcb2d2966b&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
"But Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, a conservative lobbying group, told listeners to his radio program that the bill’s real purpose was “to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality,” according to The Associated Press."
Maybe it's just me, and often that seems to be the case, but I don't think I can/would take someone to court for telling me why they think I am an immoral person. This is not a law to oppose the first amendment. I may be missing the connection here, but I see this bill as something to make it safer for my friends to walk down the street. Something that declares that it is not OK to beat up or degrade a person because of the way they may look, dress, talk, walk, or who they like to be with. Enacting this into law would simply make it not-OK for those "people of faith" to express themselves all over my body. It will force a look at the motivation for engaging in criminal activity, a factor that is often considered when evaluating the seriousness of an offense. This is simply a strengthening of laws.
The New York State Legislature enacted the Hate Crimes Act of 2000. In its findings, the legislature found that:
"Hate crimes do more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citizens. They inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and tear at the very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidious hatred toward particular groups not only harm individual victims but send a powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members of the group to which the victim belongs."
And really, who says that people of faith can't have more than one feeling about homosexuality.
"But Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, a conservative lobbying group, told listeners to his radio program that the bill’s real purpose was “to muzzle people of faith who dare to express their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality,” according to The Associated Press."
Maybe it's just me, and often that seems to be the case, but I don't think I can/would take someone to court for telling me why they think I am an immoral person. This is not a law to oppose the first amendment. I may be missing the connection here, but I see this bill as something to make it safer for my friends to walk down the street. Something that declares that it is not OK to beat up or degrade a person because of the way they may look, dress, talk, walk, or who they like to be with. Enacting this into law would simply make it not-OK for those "people of faith" to express themselves all over my body. It will force a look at the motivation for engaging in criminal activity, a factor that is often considered when evaluating the seriousness of an offense. This is simply a strengthening of laws.
The New York State Legislature enacted the Hate Crimes Act of 2000. In its findings, the legislature found that:
"Hate crimes do more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citizens. They inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and tear at the very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidious hatred toward particular groups not only harm individual victims but send a powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members of the group to which the victim belongs."
And really, who says that people of faith can't have more than one feeling about homosexuality.