I am a 26 year
old gay male and I have been a subscriber to The
Advocate for several years now. and pretty much enjoy
what I find in the magazine, although reading the
"Call to arms in congress" section, talking about The
Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act or otherwise
commonly known as the hate crimes bill. After reading this
magazine and other gay publications I was told how good this
was for us in the gay community, but I fear the whole
truth is not out there about the bill. After much
research I have realized not only does this penalize
"hate motivated" crimes but it also bans free speech of
innocent, law abiding citizens, be
they Christians or any other group. There has
been a similar law put forth in other countries such as
Canada, where citizens have faced a maximum five years
in jail or a twenty thousand dollar fine. All this for
saying something bad about a federally protected
group. How can we limit free speech which is the basis for
freedom in this country? We all complain about marriage not
being allowed for us and it being a right, but this
law would take away free speech rights from innocent
Americans for expressing an opinion. As the model for
democracy we cannot allow this to happen. Please join with
me and urging members of Congress to vote against and
hate speech laws. Whatever happened to the old saying
" sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may
never hurt me".