Rep. Foxx: "The bill was named after a very unfortunate incident that happened, where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. The bill was named for him, the hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's, it's really a hoax, that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."
Once again, for those who refuse to understand what's happening, we'll go through it. The bill does not create new rights; it doesn't mean a violent act against gays, or African-Americans, or whomever, is worse than any other violent crime; it doesn't target ministers in the pulpit.
What this bill does it target perpetrators. Here's a scenario. I'm walking down the street, minding my own business. A group of men confront me, calling me a fag, then beat me senseless. This is a hate crime because, for whatever reason, this group targeted me precisely because they (a) believed me to be gay, and (b) would not have happened had they not thought I was gay. In other words, Hate Crimes laws do not target "thought" (what a stupid notion), nor do they create "special rights" or protected classes. Rather, like the differences between homicide and manslaughter, voluntary and involuntary, etc., they target the perpetrators of crimes, their motivations, and specify the way these crimes are considered in a court of law. Had this group of men driven by me and merely shouted "Bum-puncher!" out their car window, there would be no crime. Had they rolled a drunk and stolen his money, it would have been simple assault.
The issue in Hate Crimes legislation deals with the reality that certain crimes are motivated by hatred. It deals with material facts in a criminal case, not thought, not the status of the victim, and certainly not "political correctness".
Matthew Shepard died because a couple yahoos decided to beat up some poor gay man. That is what they set out to do, they posed as gay men to lure him, then beat him and left him to die on the side of the road. In the process, they robbed him, but robbery was not the motivation. It was, in fact, a ruse, an act committed to cover up the fact that these two men killed Shepard because of his sexual orientation. In other words, they understood that it was a crime of hatred, and tried to disguise it by robbing him.
Anyone who fears this legislation should look within him- or herself.
