Connect with us

The Gay Hate Crimes Crisis Isn’t Over Yet

Published

on

Thursday’s historic passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is cause for celebration. The first federal legislation to provide inclusive protections for the GLBTQ community, this hate crimes bill will extend significant protections to many Americans.

Yes, we absolutely must celebrate this victory. It tells all our citizens, and the world, who we are, what we stand for – and what we won’t stand for.

But we cannot think we’re done. This is, in fact, just the beginning.

Gays in this country are increasingly becoming victims of violent, and deadly hate crimes. New York City, certainly more “gay-friendly” than many towns and cities across America, has been host to several brutal beatings this year. Among other incidents, New Yorkers have suffered beatings on a tony Upper East Side street, outside a Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood restaurant, and the latest, the vicious beating of forty-nine year-old Jack Price – caught on tape – in blue-collar Queens.

Kicked and beaten by two young men less than half his age, Price had to be put into a medically-induced coma. One of the men arrested in the attack claimed not to be homophobic, yet proudly displayed for the media’s cameras his (misquoted) Leviticus 18:22 tattoo: “You shall not lie with a male as one does with a woman. It is an abomination.”

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee this summer that there has been “nearly one hate crime for every hour of every day over the span of a decade,” since 1998 – the year Matthew Shepard was murdered. It’s been exactly four thousand thirty-one days since Shepard’s death. Over ninety-six thousand hours. Do the math. Yes, it’s taken that long – and that many hate crime incidents – for the U.S. Congress to pass legislation offering protection  to the GLBTQ community against crimes of hate.

But America is not alone in its treatment of GLBTQs. Scotland Yard reports an eighteen percent rise in homophobic hate crimes in London – almost 1200 incidents, more than three a day -  over the past twelve months. Italy has seen an eleven percent increase in gay-related hate crimes as well. But the worst news comes out of Iraq, where organized militias are roaming the streets and gunning down suspected homosexuals, and Iran, where the government has hanged adults and juveniles – just for being gay.

Homophobic hate crimes are on the rise, and for every hate crime that makes the statistics, how many go unreported? Obviously, there are few numbers available, but one study out of Ireland this year found that sixty-four percent of homophobic hate crimes are not reported to police. A 2007 study by Human Rights First determined that “[London] police themselves estimate that some 90 percent of homophobic hate crimes go unreported.”

Every hate crime – reported or not, affects the larger community. Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker says that a hate crime,

“…is really two crimes — one against the individual and another against the group to which he belongs. By that definition, [Matthew] Shepard’s murder may be viewed as a terrorist act against all gays, who would have felt more fearful as a result.”

And to those, like Rep. Steve King (D-IA) who tried to have the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill name changed to the “Local Law Enforcement Thought Crimes Prevention Act of 2009,” we can now, proudly, say, America thinks you’re wrong, and the full weight of U.S. law says so.

Yes, Thursday’s passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is cause for celebration. But it will also be a rallying cry – to those like Rep. King, and to those like the American Family Association, that bastion of bigotry, whose latest call to action offered this attack:

“In its never-ending quest to shred America’s Judeo-Christian value system, the left is planning to hurriedly push through a “thought crimes” bill.

So-called “hate crimes” laws are really laws that criminalize thought, because they punish an individual not for what he did but for what he thought. Politically incorrect thoughts about homosexual behavior will result in enhanced criminal sanctions under this law.

Everywhere hate crimes laws have gone into effect, they have been quickly used to intimidate, silence and punish people of faith who express deeply held religious objections to the normalization of homosexuality.”

We can’t assume the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act will put an end to hate crimes. They’re already on the rise. What we need to do is work to ensure more victims of hate crimes report them.

Let’s use this hard-fought success to rally our troops and ensure the momentum we’ve built this year doesn’t end with the hate crimes bill. Let’s redouble our efforts to see repeal of DADT and DOMA, and enactment of ENDA.

There are only two months left in the year. There is a crisis confronting the GLBTQ community. Let’s address it, before it’s too late.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘He Is Not in Charge’: Trump Mocked After Asking What’s in His Own Executive Order

Published

23 hours ago

on

May 23, 2025

By

President Donald Trump has signed more than 150 executive orders, often with cameras rolling and staff looking on. The ritual rarely varies: seated at the desk in the Oval Office, the President listens as someone—typically the White House Staff Secretary—reads a brief summary of the order. On occasion, Trump interjects with a question, prompting speculation that he may not be fully familiar with the contents. He is seldom seen fully reading the orders themselves, which can span anywhere from a few pages to nearly 70.

On Friday, President Trump signed several executive orders, but according to The Daily Beast, one particularly revealing moment suggested he may not have known what he was signing—describing it as “a telling moment” that implied the president hadn’t read the order.

“Are we doing something about the regulatory in here?” Trump asked a business person attending the event.

READ MORE: ‘There Is No Tariff’: Trump Denies Policy Shift After Calling for 50% EU Tariff

“Several business leaders standing around him were quick to chime in that his order did address the regulations while Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also responded, ‘You are, sir,'” The Daily Beast also reported.

At the end, Trump asked, “Is that it?” and one of the attendees replied, “That’s all we have for you now, sir.”

Then, rather than asking if there were any questions for him about the executive orders, Trump asked if anyone had any questions for the guests in the room, whom he called “brilliant.”

READ MORE: ‘This Is Extortion’: Former Harvard President Blasts Trump’s Act of ‘Madness’

Critics blasted the President.

Fred Wellman is a graduate of West Point and the Harvard Kennedy School, an Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, and a political consultant.

“He is not in charge,” Wellman alleged.

MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen snarked, “It’s almost as if Trump has cognitive deficiencies, which from what I hear on CNN is a major scandal.”

“’Is that it?’ while signing orders he doesn’t understand, parroting talking points he didn’t write, and pretending it’s leadership,” wrote investment banker Evaristus Odinikaeze. “Peak performative confusion.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Franklin Graham Scores Pentagon Christian Prayer Services Invitation

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

News

‘There Is No Tariff’: Trump Denies Policy Shift After Calling for 50% EU Tariff

Published

1 day ago

on

May 23, 2025

By

Just hours after President Donald Trump called for a 50% tariff on products from the European Union starting June 1, he told reporters “There is no tariff,” and “I’m not looking for a deal.”

“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at 7:43 AM. “Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable.”

“Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

READ MORE: ‘This Is Extortion’: Former Harvard President Blasts Trump’s Act of ‘Madness’

While signing executive orders in the Oval Office on Friday, a reporter said to Trump, “You are deal maker, deal breaker—what are you hoping to achieve with a 50% tariff?”

“Well, I think this is—there is no tariff because what they’ll do is they’ll send their companies into the U.S. and build their plant,” the President responded. “You know, we have, I guess, over $12 trillion practically committed. You look at other presidents, haven’t had a trillion dollars for a year, two years, for three years.”

“We have numbers. Nobody’s ever seen numbers like we have. And if they build their plant here, then they have no tariff at all.”

READ MORE: ‘Cut, Rip, Gut, Kill, Cruel’: Top Republican Lashes Out Over Dems Using These Words

“Are you looking for a deal in nine days? Will you be able to do that, sir?” the reporter asked.

“I’m not looking for a deal. I mean, we’ve set the deal. It’s at 50%, but again, there is no tariff if they build their plant here.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Franklin Graham Scores Pentagon Christian Prayer Services Invitation

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

News

‘This Is Extortion’: Former Harvard President Blasts Trump’s Act of ‘Madness’

Published

1 day ago

on

May 23, 2025

By

Former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers delivered sharp criticism of President Donald Trump and his administration for barring the nation’s oldest university from admitting foreign students—part of the President’s ongoing feud with several Ivy League institutions.

Harvard quickly sued the Trump administration. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against Trump’s efforts to revoke Harvard’s ability to admit foreign students, which comprise about one-quarter of the school’s total enrolled population.

“U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs’ order provides temporary relief to the thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Ivy League school called part of the administration’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to ‘surrender its academic independence,'” Reuters reported.

READ MORE: White House Scrambles to Clean Up Trump’s Walmart ‘Rage Tweeting’ Amid Upcoming ‘Standoff’

Summers, who not only helmed the nearly-four-century-old Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution, but also served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, took to social media to blast Trump and praise the school for fighting back.

“Harvard University is doing just the right thing,” Summers wrote. “This is extortion. It’s a vendetta using all powers of the government because of a political argument with Harvard. It is violating the First Amendment. It is also violating all the laws we have regarding administrative procedures.”

“The consequences are real,” he continued, “whether it’s students who are dissidents from tyrannies who are going to be sent home and possibly be imprisoned, whether it’s labs that are fighting cancer or diabetes, that are going to lose key people, whether it’s 7,000 people, some small fraction of whom are going to go on to be Prime Ministers of countries who’ve now been turned into enemies of the United States, whether it is the way in which America [is] seen when it expels people whose dream it was to come to Harvard to study, this is madness.”

And he criticized the move as a “gift” to enemy nations.

READ MORE: ‘Shameless Liar and Insane Conspiracy Theorist’: RFK Jr. Slammed by Democratic Senator

“I cannot imagine a greater strategic gift that we could be giving to China and Russia, the enemies of freedom around the world,” Summers wrote. “If this lawsuit is allowed to stand, it is going to be incredibly damaging to Harvard. But that is the least of it. It is much more profound in how damaging this will be to the standing, the role and the position of the U.S. We used to be a beacon to the world. We’re now becoming a negative example. I imagine there must be great joy in Beijing and Moscow, seeing us implode with these kinds of policies.”

Current Harvard University President Alan Garber in a letter wrote: “For those international students and scholars affected by yesterday’s action, know that you are vital members of our community. You are our classmates and friends, our colleagues and mentors, our partners in the work of this great institution. Thanks to you, we know more and understand more, and our country and our world are more enlightened and more resilient. We will support you as we do our utmost to ensure that Harvard remains open to the world.”

Others weighed in as well.

“America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don’t align politically with the current head of the government,” wrote former Biden Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

“When Trump and [DHS Secretary Kristi] Noem say that they are cutting off visas for Harvard students because of ‘DEI’ concerns, they mean that Harvard admits non white males and has non white male faculty. DEI is just now code for white male supremacy,” declared U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).

“The letter Noem sent to Harvard cites no law violated, no regulation broken, no policy ignored,” noted attorney and immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, “just a threat to punish Harvard for their refusal to hand over FIVE YEARS of video of every student protest at the university, among other things. THAT is weaponization of government.”

READ MORE: ‘Cut, Rip, Gut, Kill, Cruel’: Top Republican Lashes Out Over Dems Using These Words

 

Image via Shutterstock

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.