Gay Rights in the U.S. -- Hate Crimes

In the midst of writing about areas where laws supporting the equality of LGBT people are coming up short, I thought I'd spend one article noting an area where significant progress has been made: hate crimes.

I've heard a few people express some measure of discomfort with the very idea of hate crimes legislation. A common reservation seems to stem from reluctance to task a judge or jury with "reading what's in the mind" of a perpetrator to determine whether race/orientation/gender had a role in the motive for a crime. While that's a point I concede can be murky in some cases, there are many cases where a bigoted motive is completely unambiguous. And in such cases, I believe an additional measure of punishment is appropriate to suit the additional facet of the crime.

Because make no mistake, a crime actually is worse when bigotry is its motivation. There's a long record of psychological research on the victims of hate crimes, and numerous credible studies have shown that it takes a victim almost twice as long to mentally recover from a hate crime than from a "regular" crime.

The threat of violence against LGBT people plays a factor in the decisions of many not to come out, particularly in parts of the country where acceptance is less widespread. Even among those living openly, a sense of fear can cause a slight mental calculation in advance of any public display of affection: "if I kiss him right now, what's the chance that someone will see it and react badly? And just how badly?" It should be quite obvious how terrible it is that any moment that should be purely about love between two people should carry with it any concerns of such hatred, no matter how subconscious or brief.

Of course, hate crimes legislation doesn't instantly solve any of this -- no more than the pre-existing legislation ended racially motivated crimes. But like the laws against racially motivated crimes, laws protecting hate crimes against LGBTs make a significant public statement about our society's values. And that's happened in 2009, when Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The measure essentially took the existing 1969 United States federal hate-crime law (which protected against race, color, religion, and nationality) and expanded it to include crimes motivated by a victim's gender (actual or perceived), sexual orientation, or disability. Mind you, this measure did fail in four prior Congresses going back eight years to 2001, but at least it was finally passed.

As I said, I thought it worthwhile to talk about an area where strong progress has been made... particularly because in my next few posts (and it will take many), I'll be getting into an area where progress has been much slower, the most talked about equality issue of marriage.