Friday, July 17, 2009
Hargrove / Politics Senate Vote Amends Hate Crimes to Include LGBT Folk; Alexander and Corker Absent
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Here in Tennessee, and Memphis especially, transgendered women have been dropping like flies over the last few years: shot, beaten, you name it. And now the amendment to the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed in a cloture vote by the high lawmaking body of the land would suggest that we're taking a baby step toward affording the LGBT community the same rights we all enjoy.
Here's what's not so encouraging: Our two senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker -- from the very state that has dealt so much violence to the transgendered -- weren't even there for the vote. That's not the kind of message we should be sending. Or would such a vote not sit well with Tennessee Republicans?
Comments (5)
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"Or would such a vote not sit well with Tennessee Republicans?"
Of course not! Republicans think that if you are gay/lesbian/transgendered, that you are by choice. Their solution? To pray for you. And if praying doesn't work, then ostracize you from society.
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I wish they wouldn't have attached 909 to the defense bill but happy to see that it's going to pass - finally. This is long, long overdue.
As of two days ago, Sen. Alexander's office was communicating a statement indicating that he would oppose the bill. Interesting that he didn't show up for the cloture vote. Not surprising though.
The LGBT freaks already enjoy the same rights we have. There are laws on the books against shootings, beatings, you name it.
There's no point in having hate crime laws. It should be as obvious as a man in a dress that these laws have no deterrent effect. What we really need is a justice system that works.
People sometimes react in an instinctive, visceral way to anything deviant or different. The best way to prevent attacks on perverts is to make it less apparent that you're a pervert.
The inconsistent and ridiculous variety of degrees of punishment for crimes within our judicial system in this country does not leave anyone a reason to truly respect the process and as such does not promote a respect for law in general.
"we're taking a baby step toward affording the LGBT community the same rights we all enjoy."
Pure nonsense.
They already have the same rights as everyone else.
So-called "hate crime" laws are nothing but PC bullshit.
The heinouness of any crime is determined exclusively by the damage inflicted on the victim - not the (alleged) reason why the perpetrator was commiting the crime.
A victim who is killed by a home invasion robber is every bit as dead as someone killed because some perpetrator didn't like their sexual orientation. The latter crime is not one iota worse than the former.
There are already laws on the books against murder, assault, etc. They are plenty sufficient to prosecute anyone who commits any of those crimes no matter what the purported reason for them doing so.
