Hate Crimes Bill Gets OK By House Judiciary Committee. RRRW Goes Berserk.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 15-12 Thursday on a bill that would amend the federal hate crimes law to include LGBT individuals. As I’ve said before this merely adds LGBT people to the list of others who are already protected by that legislation. But of course the RRRWers are rending their garments, and lying through their teeth.
From WorldNutDaily
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“Instead of treating all crime victims equally, it creates a caste system where select groups, such as gays and lesbians, are given greater priority in the criminal justice system. This is not progress; it is political correctness. In other nations and states, the adoption of hate crimes legislation has been the first step toward widespread suppression of speech and ideas critical of homosexuality,” he said.
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Um, no it doesn’t. LGBT people are being given the same protections others are. We’re merely being added to the federal hate crimes statute that already protects people on the basis of their religion, race, ethnicity, disability and other characteristics. But then that’s what bigots really can’t stand is LGBT people being treated equally. They want a caste system, but with us at the bottom.
OneNewsNow provides its spin on the matter:
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Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) told Democratic members that “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are vague terms that need to be specifically defined since courts will be analyzing those terms.
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While you’re at it have them define “religious” and “faith” since they’ll be analyzing those terms and you’re constantly asking for special exemptions to every law on the books based on your “faith” and “religious beliefs”.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council says:
This measure would allow the federal government, for the first time ever, to prosecute any violent crime anywhere in the country that “is motivated by prejudice” against a number of protected characteristics, including “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
Liar. Hate crimes legislation goes back as far as 1979 (in MA) with a federal statute which protected people on the basis of of a person’s race, color, religion, or nation origin being implemented in 1999. Hate crimes legislation is nothing new, and to pretend it’s all about LGBT people is disingenuous at best. Perkins blathers on:
“Additionally, this poorly-worded legislation shows contempt for the moral and religious views of millions of Americans by including ’sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ as protected categories at a time when a large plurality of our fellow citizens rejects the implied meaning of those labels. The bill sends a message that disapproval of homosexual behavior alone - even if expressed peacefully and lovingly - constitutes a form of ‘hate’ that is equivalent to racial bigotry.
The bill addresses violent crimes. If your idea of “loving disapproval of homosexual behavior” involves violent crimes against LGBT people you should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Furthermore illogical and baseless bigotry against LGBT people does constitute a form of hate that is equivalent to racial bigotry. Hiding it behind your “deeply held religious beliefs” doesn’t hold water with me or most rational people even if it does make you look like an upstanding guy with “a large plurality of your fellow citizens”. Some 50 years ago a large plurality of fellow citizens thought racism was acceptable but that didn’t make it right.
Then there’s Rev. Michael Bresciani who is…well just read and see:
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H.R. 1913 nearly proposes that anyone who thinks something is repulsive or repugnant will move to destroy it. It further gives credence to the idea that if a thing was destroyed the destroy-ee had to have prior hatred for the thing destroyed and should suffer special penalties for the preconceived hatred as well as the physical violence done to it. This is a bill that may be crafted on the premise of ‘cuckoo is, as cuckoo does’ but it would not stand the scrutiny of a serious comparison to the freedoms allowed under the first amendment.
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If H.R. 1913 is to be taken seriously it goes beyond even thought policing and passes up to the level of ‘feeling policing.’ Here is the question; what’s next, facial expression policing, regurgitation causes policing and yucky feeling policing? Have our lawmakers become the purveyors of silliness; sadly the answer is probably yes.
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I know I have a yucky feeling after reading that nonsense.
I’ll just reiterate. Heterosupremacists have nothing to fear from HR 1913. They can still preach that gay sex is evil, perverted, sinful, etc. They can still proclaim that gays are going to burn in hell for eternity. They won’t be penalized in any way for that because HR 1913 does not address speech or, despite the lies of many, thought. HR 1913 addresses violent crime.
So unless their notion of “religious liberty” is something like beating, shooting, gang-raping, or beating and threatening to kill gay/transgender people because they’re gay/transgender you need not worry about HR 1913. If any of those are your notion of “religious liberty” you belong behind bars. In fact you belong in hell. The Satanist’s version of hell. If you don’t know what that is I’m sure Ebon would be glad to explain it to you.
