Congress is expected to expand federal hate crimes laws to add "sexual orientation" to a list that already includes "race, color, religion, or national origin." Is this necessary? Should there be special laws against crimes motivated by intolerance, bigotry, and hatred? Isn't a crime a crime?
Gay-bashing is alive and well in this country—from the seemingly innocuous bullying and name-calling taking place in schools, to derision and persecution in the military and in prisons, to full-scale beatings and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.
The fact is that it’s still okay to ridicule, discount, or condemn homosexuality—just as it has been (and still is, to some extent) accepted practice to marginalize, oppress, and persecute women, African-Americans, and Jews.
Arguments in favor of slavery (and, subsequently, against African Americans) were based on an absurd belief that all humans were not created equal; this same belief has fueled misogynistic and anti-Semitic attitudes. Intolerance always presumes the superiority of one group over another: the supremacy of white people over African Americans; the authority and power of males over females; and the primacy of Christianity over Judaism. Interestingly enough, many “haters” of women, blacks, and Jews, like gay-bashers, have found justification for their views through narrow, literal readings of the Bible.
When hateful or supremacist attitudes are allowed to flourish, hate crimes follow. And if hate crimes are minimized or ignored, hate itself can become institutionalized. Sexism, racism, anti-Semitism: each of these at one time became institutionalized when those in power failed to protect certain groups or, even worse, legitimized the assumption of one group’s superiority over another.
It is for this very reason that hate crime laws must be enacted—to counter cultural attitudes that lead to persecution of certain groups. For those in power to take a stand against the inhumanity behind hate crimes. To refuse to accept or condone hateful behaviors. To stop the spread of hate that resulted in lynching and violence against African Americans, the prevalence of rape and domestic violence experienced by women, and ongoing religious persecution of Jews.
Hate crimes are worse than ordinary crimes in their determination to silence, persecute, or annihilate whole groups of individuals. Not only do hate crimes have the potential to foster fear and loathing in the broader community, but they also constitute a sin against humanity itself, against God’s good creation.
Yes, it is crucial that we enact special laws against crimes motivated by hatred and intolerance, and this includes crimes based on sexual orientation. All individuals deserve the protection of the law to discourage others from using hate as a weapon against them, to stem the spread of hate from one individual to an entire community.
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I like the line about "to counter cultural attitudes that lead to persecution of certain groups." I think it is powerful to argue history: that we have always been pigs so we have to presume we will continue to be unless we put in place protections against it.
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