Comments on: Column: ‘Gay’ crimes should be hate crimes http://archive.uwire.com/2008/03/05/column-gay-crimes-should-be-hate-crimes/ Powered by The Content Generation Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:18:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Bob Zuley http://archive.uwire.com/2008/03/05/column-gay-crimes-should-be-hate-crimes/#comment-5308 Bob Zuley Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:05:38 +0000 http://archive.uwire.com/2008/03/05/column-gay-crimes-should-be-hate-crimes/#comment-5308 Declaring some criminal victims as more special than others and enhancing criminal penalties in those offenses is a useless symbolic gesture that only muddies criminal investigations and prosecutions. It defies the concept of equality under the law. Violent crime is far too random, vicious, and lacking in rational motivation to label as being motivated by sexual orientation. Punitive personal retribution could still be sought in civil courts, but it is not the place for criminal courts to balance emotional calls for special treatment. Calling a murder a hate crime is analogous to saying a burglar is greedy. The primary criminal charge must remain murder, and not be minimized by considering hate crime distractions. Hate crime laws remain a reactive gesture, and would play no role in eliminating anti-gay crimes. A far better course would be implementing proactive policies of acceptance and equality in our nations elementary and secondary schools. These policies must strongly oppose anti-gay harassment and violence. Lawrence King's execution in his school by a classmate represents a tremendous failure of his school to protect him. It is deeply saddening that Lawrence's own parents placed him in a residential group home because he was gay - unfortunately not an uncommon occurence. Declaring some criminal victims as more special than others and enhancing criminal penalties in those offenses is a useless symbolic gesture that only muddies criminal investigations and prosecutions. It defies the concept of equality under the law. Violent crime is far too random, vicious, and lacking in rational motivation to label as being motivated by sexual orientation. Punitive personal retribution could still be sought in civil courts, but it is not the place for criminal courts to balance emotional calls for special treatment. Calling a murder a hate crime is analogous to saying a burglar is greedy. The primary criminal charge must remain murder, and not be minimized by considering hate crime distractions.

Hate crime laws remain a reactive gesture, and would play no role in eliminating anti-gay crimes. A far better course would be implementing proactive policies of acceptance and equality in our nations elementary and secondary schools. These policies must strongly oppose anti-gay harassment and violence.

Lawrence King’s execution in his school by a classmate represents a tremendous failure of his school to protect him. It is deeply saddening that Lawrence’s own parents placed him in a residential group home because he was gay - unfortunately not an uncommon occurence.

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