Last month
72-year-old Detroit resident Andrew Anthos was severely
beaten with a metal pipe after being asked by a man if
he was gay. He would later slip into a coma and
ultimately die from the attack. His story comes
shortly after the death of Nakia Ladelle Baker, a
transgender woman who was found beaten to death in
early January in a Nashville parking lot. In New York
City a few months before these two murders, Michael
Sandy was also killed in an antigay assault where he was
beaten, chased into traffic, hit by a car, and then
dragged off the road and attacked a second time by his assailants.
As gruesome and tragic as these stories are,
they are but three heart-wrenching examples of the
hundreds of anti-LGBT hate crimes that occur all over
our country every year.
Fear of violence remains a horrible reality for
millions of GLBT Americans--even in places that
many consider "tolerant" or
"progressive." Every act of violence is
tragic and harmful in its consequences, but not all
crime is based on hate. A bias-motivated crime affects not
only the victim and his or her family but an entire
community or category of people and their families.
The current federal hate-crimes law, enacted
nearly 40 years ago, covers only bias attacks based on
race, ethnicity, national origin, and religion. In the
case of a hate crime based on sexual orientation or
gender identity, our government's hands are tied: It
doesn't have the authority to go after
perpetrators of anti-LGBT violent crime. It's time
to update the law to protect everyone.
The 1968 law was an appropriate response, at the
time, to the terrible acts of violence against
African- Americans, but any and all hate crimes
deserve a just and full response. Members of the new
congressional leadership understand this, and that is
why they support the introduction this month of a
measure to expand the federal hate-crimes law to cover
sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability;
they have assured us that a debate and a vote on the
bill will happen soon thereafter.
We know that some people in the community are
skeptical about fighting for a hate-crimes law.
We're sympathetic and understand that after so
many years of pushing for this law, they want to move on to
other issues like marriage and repealing the
military's "don't ask, don't
tell" policy. Gaining civil rights, however, is
a step-by-step process.
It's no surprise to anyone that this
Congress doesn't fully support every issue
important to the LGBT community, but a majority of its
members overwhelmingly believes that the federal
hate-crimes statute should be comprehensive and
inclusive--and that is progress. So, from a tactical
standpoint, a hate-crimes law is the logical first issue for
our community to pursue in this new, friendlier Congress.
You may ask, isn't the bill merely
symbolic? It won't stop future attacks or bring
back those we've lost. Well, it is true that there is
some symbolic value to the law. We honor all past
victims by creating a federal law to combat hate
crimes. But make no mistake about it: this law offers
a real solution to combating anti-LGBT violence. It does so
by accomplishing two very important goals.
First, the federal government gains the
authority to prosecute anti-LGBT hate crimes. No
matter how awful the crime, nor how compelling the
evidence, the federal government simply cannot act without
this law.
Second, this legislation will put crucial
federal resources at the disposal of state and local
agencies and equip local law enforcement officers with
the tools they need to seek justice. There have been
numerous hate-crimes cases where local jurisdictions simply
lacked the full resources to prosecute the guilty. As
an example, when Matthew (Judy's son) was
murdered in Laramie, Wyo., in 1998, the town had to
scramble financially to handle the investigation,
prosecution, and security required. The case ended up
costing this small locality of roughly 28,000 people
about $150,000, and the county sheriff's department
was ultimately forced to furlough five deputies to save
money. The police department also incurred about
$25,000 in overtime costs. Federal assistance would
have been a huge help.
Some pundits and media outlets have speculated
that passing a hate-crimes law is a done deal. They
cite the Democratic congressional takeover and the
broad public support for the measure. But we will fail if we
adopt this conventional wisdom.
The right wing is already launching its own
full-scale effort to defeat the bill--and with
few credible arguments against the law, those on the
right have resorted to flat out lying. They actually
argue that the law will criminalize thought and be
used to persecute antigay churches. Nothing could be
further from the truth. In the 39 years that the current
hate-crimes law has been on the books, there has never been
a single "thought crime" charge brought
against anyone. And despite the far right's
complaints, there is something profoundly telling about the
fact that mainstream religious leaders from nearly all
50 states will be converging on Capitol Hill in April
to take the lead in lobbying for this bill.
This year represents the best opportunity we
have ever had to address anti-LGBT violence. A strong,
bipartisan group of senators and representatives is
going to fight hard for us, but we must do our part
too. We must mobilize and lobby all of our senators and
representatives. Please call, write, or schedule a
visit with your elected officials as soon as possible.
We must sway undecided politicians, rally our allies,
and combat the right wing's misinformation campaign.
If we work hard enough, we can get this bill to
President Bush by the end of this year. And then we
will work with our allies on both sides of the aisle
to ensure that President Bush's legacy includes a
strong stand against anti-LGBT violence. He may have
gained notoriety for supporting the discriminatory
Federal Marriage Amendment, but whether he would use
only the second veto of his presidency on this bill remains
to be seen. Let's give him the opportunity to
do the right thing.
