Hate Crimes and “Special Rights” April 13, 2008
Posted by dhconcerts in About Life, Health, Letters to Sally Kern, Peace, Justice and Equality, Quoting Others, Sally Kearn, Sally Kern, Sally Kern / Sally Kearn.trackback
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How is it a “special right” to have your murder listed as a hate crime when the people who murdered you did so because they did not like who they thought you were? I have a problem with the anti-gay groups who say it is a special right for lgbt persons to be legally protected (by hate crimes legislation).
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Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin wrote about a gay man who lived in a small town. He was brutally murdered by three men, yet his death did not show up in the hate crime statistics. The circumstances of his murder indicate that he was murdered because he was gay.
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Jim said this murder was one hate crime that fell through the cracks in the reporting system. This is not breaking news. It happened two years ago. But, I believe it is still relevant. You can read the story and, for a moment, honor the memory of yet another good person who was brutally murdered by people who thought he did not deserve to live simply because he was gay.
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The Hate Crimes Act of 1990 requires the FBI to compile and release an annual summary of hate crimes in the United States… Unfortunately, the law doesn’t require local law enforcement agencies to participate in the reporting program, nor is there any funding to offset the costs of collecting and reporting the data.
The Hate Crimes Act of 1990 requires the FBI to compile and release an annual summary of hate crimes in the United States… Unfortunately, the law doesn’t require local law enforcement agencies to participate in the reporting program, nor is there any funding to offset the costs of collecting and reporting the data.
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To those who use the equation “homosexuality = sin + perversion + wickedness + abomination to God (plus more of these words)”, try to imagine that the person being brutally attacked is your much loved child, your much loved sibling, your much loved parent, your much loved friend or teacher or neighbor or minister. That’s who you are diminishing with your words. That’s who you are refusing to protect when someone uses your verbal attacks as motivation and justification for physical violence.
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Experts have noted that hate crimes based on sexual orientation are often more brutal than the typical assult. Gay bashings … are often characterized by “overkill”, indicating a higher level of emotional reaction on the part of the attacker. This is one distinction which makes hate-motivated crimes different from ordinary crimes, and it partly explains why thirty-one states have hate crime laws which cover sexual orientation.
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Hi! I’m justing visiting random blogs…trying to expand my own little blogging world, I stumbled upon yours, and just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it.