The Matthew Shepard Act

Last week, the US House of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HR 1592). In the main, this bill gives the federal Justice Department the power to investigate violent, biased-based crimes across the nation. In essence, it makes the resources of the federal government available to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to help them investigate hate crimes. Many such jurisdictions lack the experience and/or the resources to effectively tackle such heinous violations of the law. The bill also expanded the definition of a hate crime under federal law to include sexual orientation, gender, and disability.

Opponents of the bill, many of which included (so-called) Christian and (so-called) “Family Values” organizations, attempted to kill it through distortion of the truth and outright lies. (Love those values!) The most far-out example of this was the contention that a religious leader, a pastor for example, could be prosecuted under the bill for preaching anti-gay sermons from the pulpit, if a member of the congregation later went out and committed a hate crime. This was a corruption of the truth so great that even a retarded squirrel would see its fallacy. (I wonder if this is the chief reason that you won’t find retarded squirrels on the member rolls of these organizations or if it is simply common decency?)

In plain language, the bill actually states that it is NOT meant to curtail the First Amendment rights of expression or of freedom of religion. Legislative comments go further and actually outline the supposed scenario as outlined above as false. For said pastor to meet the standard of guilt under the law, he or she would actually have to order the congregation members to actually go out and commit the specific crime. (See “You there in Pew D, Seat 12. Go forth and shoot dead George Michael! You’ll find an inexpensive gun at Wal-Mart.”) I think that we can all see the difference between that and a pastor saying in a sermon, “being gay is bad.” I would also hope that we agree that instigators to murder should be held accountable regardless of their profession.

Counterpart legislation to HR 1592 is now making its way through the Senate in the form of the Matthew Shepard Act. (I won’t go into the story of its namesake now, but if anyone needs the information, I’m happy to provide it.) The Human Rights Campaign has issued a call for citizens to contact their Senators and instruct them to vote in favor of the bill. To answer this call, you can find your Senator’s contact information here. Moreover, the HRC has suggested a letter with the followed text.

Dear Senator X,

As your constituent, I am deeply concerned about hate crimes, and I am writing to ask that you continue to represent the interests of your state by supporting the Matthew Shepard Act.

Americans overwhelmingly approve of legislation to prevent hate violence. In fact, three in four (or 73%) support expanding hate crimes laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity and giving local law enforcement the tools and resources they need to investigate and prosecute these tragic acts of bigotry.

I am confident that you will champion the will of voters in your community and the majority of Americans, and bring our federal hate crime laws into the 21st Century, by ensuring that all of our citizens are protected against senseless hate violence.

While a random act of violence against any individual is always a tragic event, we know that violent crimes based on prejudice are meant to terrorize an entire community.

As Americans, we must defend our neighbors from becoming victims of bias-motivated violence. Thank you for helping ensure passage of this very important legislation.

Respectfully yours,

John Q. Public
123 Main Street
Anytown NY 55555

I sent such a letter to Senators Domenici and Bingaman. I hope that you will follow suit.