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PrintIn My Opinion - Prosecuting hate crimes and promoting tolerance in Oklahoma
By Nancy McDonald, past president, National Board of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
I suspect that on Oct. 28, 2009, there was a sigh of relief, a prayer of thanksgiving, as well as a moment of silence for the victims of hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
And, yes, a celebration among parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender persons, as well as all GLBT persons, as President Barack Obama signed the bill passed by the House and Senate into law.
It is called the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act — named to honor Matthew Shepard, the gay teenager who was brutally murdered in 1998 in Wyoming for being who he was, a gay person, and James Byrd Jr., an African American who was dragged to death in Jasper, Texas, in 1998.
It has been a decade of struggle to pass an inclusive hate crimes bill. This bill will help protect every person in the United States from being a victim of a hate crime in eight separate ways: on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability or sexual orientation, including bisexual, homosexual or heterosexual and gender identity.
A hate crime is a crime of violence that is motivated by hatred of a group to which the victim belongs. The hate crime expresses hatred against a random member of the group and is also used to terrorize the entire community of which the victim may be a member. The crime usually involves violence and sometimes death. The crime may be committed at an unpredictable time and place, and the victim is usually selected at random.
Any parent raising a family worries when his or her child becomes independent. You fear the call that your child has been involved in a car accident. And when your child identifies himself or herself as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, you fear the call telling you your child has been a victim of a hate crime. You know that sexual orientation, up to now, has not been included in federal or state hate crimes legislation.
A hate crimes bill to include sexual orientation and gender identity has been introduced into the Oklahoma Legislature four times, and four times it has been defeated. So, consequently, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons have not been protected by hate crimes legislation.
We have been fortunate in Tulsa that the Tulsa Police Department keeps track of hate crimes based on sexual orientation, although they do not have the power to prosecute the crime as a hate crime. Because of the inclusive federal legislation, the Tulsa Police Department or any police department in Oklahoma can now request assistance from the federal government to prosecute a case as a hate crime.
Persons opposing this piece of legislation indicate that hate speech can be prosecuted. This is far from the truth. Hate speech is also motivated by hatred of the “other” but is confined to words, not physical violence. In the United States, hate speech is legally protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
I am in hopes that as Oklahomans, we will continue to promote tolerance, acceptance and affirmation of those persons who are “different” from us. It all begins with education and understanding. These are our neighbors, our friends, our family members, our co-workers and our fellow citizens. Let us move forward in the spirit of inclusiveness, and let us take it upon ourselves to stand up for what is right.
