Citizens Project

New hate crimes law is hard-won progress for freedom and equality

Posted by Barb Van Hoy

Matthew Shepard

Today we celebrate a victory for the ideals of freedom and equality as promised in our United States Constitution.  After a 10-year fight, our nation at last has a hate crimes law that punishes the uniquely heinous nature of hate crimes, which have the chilling effect of creating fear among entire classes of people.  Thanks to Bruce DeBoskey of the Mountain States Anti-Defamation League for articulating this in an Op-Ed in Monday’s Gazette:

It has been 11 years since Matthew Shepard was beaten, tied to a lonely Wyoming fence, and left to die because his attackers hated gay men. That same year, James Byrd, Jr., was dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Jasper, Texas, a victim of a racially motivated crime. One of Byrd’s attackers wore tattoos including the image of a black man hanging from a tree.

Shepard and Byrd were not the only victims of those horrible crimes. In both cases, the murderers were not simply committing a crime against Shepard or Byrd; they were sending a chilling message to everyone who shared the characteristics of the victims — to every American who is gay or black. “You, and anyone like you, are not welcome here,” the perpetrators said through their hateful violence. “You, and anyone like you, are not safe here.” In fact, they were sending that message to all Americans.  Read more.

Signing the legislation yesterday, President Obama said,

“You understood that we must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits — not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear,” Mr. Obama said. “You understand that the rights afforded every citizen under our Constitution mean nothing if we do not protect those rights — both from unjust laws and violent acts.” Read more.

This legislation does not punish thoughts, as conservative opponents of the legislation charge. It punishes a distinctive type of crime.  Focus on the Family earnestly opposed hate crimes legislation with the baffling claim that the bill would silence religious speech.  A July “CitizenLink” email states,

And, pastors who preach against homosexuality could end up prosecuted if they are found to have “induced” a hate-crime against a self-identified homosexual by preaching from the Bible.

It seems surprising that Focus would not understand the difference between preaching a belief and inciting violence.  In interpreting the First Amendment, our courts have made careful distinctions in this area.  With Neo-Nazis regularly demonstrating publicly without being prosecuted, can Focus really believe pastors will be arrested under this law for preaching that homosexuality is a sin? It sounds far fetched, but such rhetoric is consistent with their shrill denunciations of gay marriage as a threat to heterosexual marriage and their claims that equal rights laws threaten religious freedom (even with religious exemptions). Perhaps their supporters thought Focus went too far with these hate crimes statements, since this was the last such message they sent out. Regardless, in this case reason and fairness have won out.

Citizens Project thanks our elected representatives who supported this important legislation and will continue to fight locally for true religious freedom and equal rights for all.