Participants carry a large rainbow flag towards the US Capitol during a gay rights demonstration in Washington, October 11.
(Molly Riley/Reuters)Photos (1 of 1)
Obama signs bill expanding hate crimes to sexual orientation
Gay-rights groups welcomed the move, which expands hate-crime law to include crimes based on gender and sexual orientation. But some legal scholars suggest it's an overreach of federal power.
By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer/ October 28, 2009 edition
Washington
The gay community applauded President Obama’s signing Wednesday of a hate-crime law that covers crimes against people based on their gender identity and sexual orientation, real or perceived.
The law, known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, gives the Justice Department the ability to investigate and prosecute such crimes. It expands on a 1969 federal hate-crimes law that covered crimes motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, and disability.
“Certainly, this is a really important first step,” says Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal gay rights organization. “It is something that we have needed and wanted for many years. It’s a day that deserves celebration.”
But he and other gay-rights activists say that much remains on the agenda for federal action:
•Passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). This legislation would bar employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Some states have such a law on the books, but many do not.
•Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA): This 1996 law defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and allows states not to recognize a same-sex marriage performed elsewhere.
•Repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT): This 1993 policy bars gays from serving openly in the military.
The gay community has expressed disappointment with Mr. Obama for not following through as speedily as they hoped with action on these issues. In a speech earlier this month to Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay-rights organization, Obama promised to lift DADT, but gave no time frame.
Activists have also been disappointed that Obama has not spoken out on behalf of gay rights in Maine and Washington State, as voters head to the polls Nov. 3. In Maine, a referendum seeks to overturn a law allowing gay marriage. In Washington, a referendum would reverse a new domestic partnership law.
The new hate-crimes law is named for two victims of hate crimes. Matthew Shepard was a college student in Wyoming when he was tortured and killed in 1998. Witnesses say he was targeted for being gay. James Byrd Jr. of Texas, an African American, died while being dragged behind a truck. At the time, there were no state laws on the books regarding hate crimes in Texas.
Some legal scholars argue that the new measure represents an unconstitutional overreach of federal power.
Tim Lynch, director of the Project on Criminal Justice at the libertarian Cato Institute, notes that in 2000, the Supreme Court struck down parts of the Violence Against Women Act as an overstep of congressional authority under the Commerce Clause.
“The new hate-crime law will be invalidated for similar reasons,” Mr. Lynch writes in a statement. “In the meantime, the law will not prevent any violent crime from happening.”
He adds that hate-crime laws “take the government too close to the notion of ‘thought crimes,’ because investigators will now have to dig into peoples’ lives in order to gather ‘evidence’ to prove the bias element in a court of law.”
Gay-rights activists reject the thought-crime argument.
“Motive has been a part of prosecution of crimes for a very long time,” says Rick Rosendall, vice president for political affairs of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance in Washington. “There’s not hate crime absent a crime.”
Besides, he adds, “opponents would have more credibility if they had objected to hate-crimes laws in the first place.”
Obama signed the new hate-crimes law in conjunction with the 2010 Defense Authorization Act. Later in the day, the president will host a reception in the East Room of the White House and deliver remarks commemorating the enactment of the hate-crimes law.
—
Follow us on Twitter.
Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
Leave a Comment
We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. The comments feature is a forum to discuss the ideas in our stories. Constructive debate - even pointed disagreement - is welcome, but personal attacks on other commenters are not, and will not be published.
Tip: Do not write a novel. Keep it short. We will not publish lengthy comments. Come up with your own statements. This is not a place to cut and paste an email you received. If we recognize it as such, we won't post it.
Please do not post any comments that are commercial in nature or that violate copyrights.
Finally, we will not publish any comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence.
1. Kate O’Hanlan, MD | 10.29.09
MARRIAGE IS FOR ALL AMERICANS.
The American Psychiatric Association has confirmed that sexual orientation is natural, biologically induced, morally neutral, immutable, neither contagious nor learned and has no relation to an individual’s ability to form deep and lasting relationships, to parent children, to work or to contribute to society.
The American Psychological Association states that homosexuality and homosexual relationships are normal.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association have all endorsed civil marriage for same-sex couples because marriage strengthens the mental and physical health and the longevity of couples, and provides greater legal and financial security for children, parents and seniors.
When America’s premier child and mental health associations and their expert panels endorse marriage equality, there is thus no ethical reason to discriminate against gay people and their children.
The U.S. Census reveals that one-third of America’s same-sex families are raising children, with the same responsibilities of any American family, needing and deserving all the same financial, legal and social protections that current marriage laws provides.
Three percent of every generation of children from every culture will always realize that they are gay. The question that we need to ask ourselves is: what are we doing to make the world a safer and more welcoming place for them? All children should learn that gay equals straight, that same-sex marriage equals opposite-sex marriage, because humans are humans, and all American families are equal in the eyes of the law.
The above associations have reviewed the research and made policy statements that are for the good of all of America. They represent more than 400,000 mental health and child health specialists. There is no dissent in the scientific community.
All the published evidence from the experts says one thing: marriage is good for Americans, and that it should be available to all American adults.