Hans Klasson, June 20, 2009 News
Even though hate crimes are rarely debated, the hate speech theory is controversial, as criminalizing communication can be seen as impugning freedom of speech. Hate crimes are calculated to cause fear among an entire group of people. Hate crimes send a message that an individual and “their kind” will not be tolerated. Many times leaving the victim and others in their group feeling secluded, vulnerable and exposed.
Victim

Hate crimes are exceptional because they have a unique emotional and physical impact that extends past the actual victim. They intimidate others in the victim’s community, causing them to feel isolated, defenseless, and unprotected by the law. These crimes are committed against individuals, or a few individuals. They are intended to incite fear and self-loathing amid a broader group of people. The targeted groups of people can include LGBT people, people of different races, religious backgrounds, or abilities.

Most anti-gay hate crimes are committed by otherwise law-abiding people who see nothing wrong with their actions, and who sometimes believe that they have societal consent to engage in such violence.

Notable anti-gay hate crime headlines in the media:

Lawrence King, a self-identified gay male, 15-years old, was shot twice in the head by a bully while in English class after enduring countless acts of homophobia.

Eric Mohat, 17-years old, went home and shot himself in the head after a bully suggested, ‘Why don’t you go home and shoot yourself’ His two assailants were not charged with a hate crime, since the state had no hate crime law. They were, however convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

The sadistic torture and murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard in Wyoming in October 1998. Two petty criminals kidnapped Shepard, beat him ferociously,tied him to a fence in frigid temperatures, and left him there for 18 hours before he was discovered. The case sparked a national debate about the need for hate crime legislation.

Alabama, computer programmer Billy Jack Gaither, 39, was brutally beaten with an axe handle. His throat was cut, and his body was set on fire. One of his convicted killers, Steven Mullins, testified he killed Gaither because he was “queer”

Brandon Teena, whose birth name was Teena Brandon, from Lincoln, Nebraska moved to Humboldt in 1993, after beginning to live as a man in preparation for sex-change surgery. Brandon passed as a man, but was discovered to be biologically and legally female by local police during an arrest on a misdemeanor charge. Brandon lived in a small Midwestern town, where his sexual identity crisis was not tolerated, inciting two presumed friends to brutally murder him and two other innocents. This true story, which was the basis for the feature film ‘Boys Don’t Cry’

Recent developments such as Proposition 8 in California and a small number of U.S. States legalizing same sex marriage, has lead to a reported rise in gay bashing and hate crimes against Gay’s and Lesbians.

Why do some people hold disapproving feelings toward homosexual persons and what causes someone to commit anti-gay crimes?

There is no easy answer to that question. In order to carry out any kind of barbaric act, one has to have a predisposition toward violence, probably engendered in childhood or early adult socialization. There are so many different reasons one can get caught up in anti-gay crimes. Peer dynamic is one main factor.

There is the opinion that homosexuals are a socially acceptable target. The belief that it is not so cool to attack ethnic minorities, women, or Jews. Nevertheless assaulting gays is, something amusing to a lot of immature people. It is in all probability the only remaining socially gratifying group to assault. Part of it is related to the reality that intolerance against gays is still legally recognized and encoded. That sends a message to young people “if gays do not have equal rights in employment, housing, child custody, the military, or marriage” there’s something inappropriate with them, and nobody is going to care if they engage in some fun at the Gay’s or Lesbians expense.

Scores of individuals have formed their opinions and attitudes without the advantage of direct contact with a Gay or Lesbian individual. As a result, stereotypical values about gay men and lesbians are common. Most wide spread stereotypes are related to cross-sex characteristics. In addition, significant numbers of individuals portray male homosexuals as mentally ill, promiscuous, isolated, lacking confidence, and likely to be child molesters. While lesbians have been described as belligerent and antagonistic toward men. Positive characteristics are also part of the homosexual label including such qualities as sensitivity, intelligence, honesty, imagination, and tidiness.

Heterosexuals who articulate unsympathetic attitudes toward homosexual people also tend to sanction traditional ideologies of family, sexuality and sex roles, and often are biased against other minorities as well. People with symbolic attitudes, specific reference groups appear to be particularly dominant. As already mentioned, people who are involved in church groups (as indicated by frequent attendance at church services) reflect the historical religious prejudice against Gay’s and Lesbians, and this is notably so for Christians. Individuals who grew up in areas where higher open-mindedness exists for diversity also embrace more positive attitudes toward lesbians and gay men; these include city-dwellers and people from the northeastern and Pacific coastal regions of the United States. Finally, people are more tolerant of lesbians and gay men if their parents also displayed tolerance.

Hate-crime statutes were first approved by legislatures in the late 1980s and early 1990s in response to studies that indicated an increase in crimes provoked by prejudice. Approximately 30 states and the federal government have some form of hate-crime statute.
Gay
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We did not pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. Religion and government must work together to create an America in which diverse people are safe as well as free.

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