I beleive that it was yesterday that the Matthew Shepard Act went before the Senate. Today I received an email from the Human Rights Campaign saying "the U.S. Senate has just passed the Matthew Shepard Act!"
Having made it over one big obsticale it is now time to make it through a couple more. The bill must go through House and Senate negotiations. Then it will arrive before Bush, who, I am told, has threatened to veto the bill.
The act was passed with a mass amount of HRC supporters backing it the whole way. A total of about 350,000 emails were sent, 30,000 calls were made to Congress, and over 5,000 letters were written to papers showing support of the Matthew Shepard Act. This support is going to have to matched in the road ahead, and, undoubtably, it will have to bested. As always, members of the political right and left have been and are going to continue butting heads over this until it is either passed or shot down.
I don't pray often, but I'm praying now that enough support will be shown, enough people will speak up and make it clear that letting this bill fail is not acceptable, that it will be passed. More letters are going to have to be written, more calls are going to need to be made, more emails are going to need to be sent. So, the purpose of this blog is to not only let anyone who is curious know that the Matthew Shepard Act has so far been successful, but to also ask anyone who is in support of the bill to get involved. You can find information about getting involved here: http://www.hrc.org/
In case you're new to the subject, the Matthew Shepard Act would reform the legal definition of hate crimes to include crimes commited against people because of sexual orientation or identity. The bill is namedfor Matthew Shepard, a young man who was tied to a fence, beaten, and left for dead because he was gay. This incident shows how vital it is to pass this bill. If it is vetoed, purpotrators of such crimes will not be properly prosicuted. As I've said before, this is completely unacceptable.
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I think it's ridiculous that gay people aren't included in every law. Like, we have to add new laws specifically for them. All laws should apply to all people. Just because you're a homosexual doesn't make you less of a person. And now, in the time when people are really teaching their children that being gay is bad, it's necessary more than ever to have strong laws against hate crimes, especially for gays.
--The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return--
We need to do away with "hate crimes" and just focus on the fact that a crime was committed. Most crimes are motivated by hatred, or at least extreme passion.
Nicholas Aden
Self-Promotion
While I do believe that a lot of violent crimes committed have a motivation of hatred or passion, I don't think the majority of them are. It seems, to me, anyway, that a lot of violent crimes sort of come in the process of other crimes...if that makes any sense - for instance, violent crimes that occur because of drug use are becoming more and more common, and it's not that uncommon to hear of something like a robbery or car theft turning violent because the perpetrator is caught in the act. Even so, it certainly seems like crimes motivated by hate are often times much more brutal in nature than others. The case of Matthew Shepard, for whom the bill was named, is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
Peace
Tahni
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"Tell me - if no one ever hears what you say, then why don't you shout it?" -- Floater
But why just to "gay" people? Why can't it extend "hatecrimes" to ALL people? Why do gay people have to stand out and not just be people?
Nicholas Aden
Self-Promotion
I think hate crimes should extend to all people. If someone is attacked and beaten because they are white, that is a hate crime because it is motivated hatred for the race. The issue that I'm talking about is that, currently, crimes committed against gays and transexuals because of their sexual orientation or identity is not legally considered a hate crime. The issue to press forward with this bill which would make such crimes legally considered hate crimes. So the issue isn't really singling out the gay and transexual community and explicitly making crimes against them for their sexuality hate crimes, the issue is extending the legal definition of a hate crime to include that community as well.
Peace
Tahni
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"Tell me - if no one ever hears what you say, then why don't you shout it?" -- Floater
Why can't punish people for what is in their head when they commit a crime. What is next "thoughtcrimes."(1984 reference there) We should punish people for what they have done, not for what they were thinking about.
Silent enim leges inter arma
you can just call me nick, it's cool...lol. I know it's got to be easier than typing Nicholas Aden for someone who doesn't have to do it 30 million times a day.
Nicholas Aden
Self-Promotion