Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Hate Crimes Act Distortions

The anti-gay industry is spooked by the possibility of a federal hate crimes law that will include the gay and lesbian community.

They have already began telling lies and I am sure that their efforts will culminate in a huge effort to either kill the legislation in Congress or get President Bush to veto it should it get to his desk.

The anti-gay industry is going to repeat their lies about how lgbts want to put Christians in jail for speaking out against homosexuality and how we also want to "recruit" children.

To combat these distortions, we must know and expose their tactics as quickly and as frequently as possible.

In that spirit, I am going to post something I found online. The following has to do with how the Family Research Council lied in its attempts to kill the 1999 Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Trust me when I say that the following tactics will be used again by the anti-gay industry. That is if they aren't already being used:

BEARING FALSE WITNESS: THE FRC'S SIX BIG LIES ABOUT THE HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT

The Family Research Council, in an effort to shift public focus away from the tragedy of hate crimes in America, has issued an "action alert" to its members in which it fabricates six myths about the Hate Crimes PreventionAct of 1999. These myths -- and a short refutation -- are as follows:

FRC lie 1: "Hate crimes legislation could severely restrict Americans' freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of religion. This legislation would give the government the power to interpret and classify certain speech, thought, theology, and moral belief as unlawful or contributing to crime. Will pastors, priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders who preach and teach against homosexual conduct be prosecuted for inciting a hate crime?"

The truth: The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would only prohibit acts of violence, not speech. The Act would notinfringe upon anyone's First Amendment rights. In this manner, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act would operate justlike the current hate crimes statute, which does not punish protected speech because it requires that any coveredincident include criminal acts involving force. The changes to the statute proposed by the Hate Crimes Prevention Act would only apply to cases involving death or bodily injury; in other words, they would only come into play when violent crimes have been committed -- not in matters involving speech protected by the First Amendment.

FRC lie 2: "President Clinton stated that he would include words perceived as inciting an act of violence - without proof of direct correlation - as evidence of a hate crime."

The truth: Again, the legislation does not target speech.Organizations such as the FRC would remain free to condemn homosexuality. Only when a crime victim is targetedfor a violent act because of his or her sexual orientation, gender or disability status could the law be applied.

FRC lie 3: "Talk radio, religious broadcasting and television programs could be subject to censorship."

The truth: The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would not restrict the media. Again, it would come into play only whensomeone commits a violent crime on the basis of someone else's race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

FRC lie 4: "Hate crimes legislation could give priority to homosexuals as being more protected victims than other victims of crime."

The truth: The Hate Crimes Prevention Act does not create a category of "more protected victims." It simply addresses the fact that state and local authorities sometimes cannot or will not prosecute violent crimes committed against gays and lesbians. Under current law, the federal government is often unable to intervene in these cases. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would permit federal authorities to bring the perpetrators of these horrible crimes to justice.

FRC lie 5: "Hate crimes legislation, accompanied by the President's 'tolerance education' crusade, will hinder parents who seek to protect their children from a lifestyle that is unhealthy and which they recognize to be morally and spiritually wrong."

The truth: The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would not interfere with the rights of parents to teach their children according to their own sets of values. The Act would merely prohibit acts of violence against individuals on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability. It would not preclude parents from teaching their own values to their children.

FRC lie 6: "Students could be forced to learn homosexual diversity training in public schools."

The truth: This legislation has nothing to do with school curriculum.