Congressman Steve King (R-IA) had more to say this past week when he spoke at the debate for the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
During the debate Rep. King tried again to claim that the Hate Crimes bill really should be called a "Thought Crimes" bill.
He tried to show that it is hard to define someone's sexual orientation because there is a different definition in many reference books.
See the video below for how he tries to confuse members of the House:
He continues by trying to compare what this law is to the George Orwell book "1984" and that if this law is passed we will create "thought police." I find this very interesting since things in this country got a little too close to the book during the Bush-Cheney era. Watch the Congressman here
But one of his "best" moments this week was when he called the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus "separatists" groups.
The term separatists seems to be used here in a derogatory manner such as Anti-American. King's point is that we need to accept each other and embrace our differences. This is very interesting since he has made clear he is unwilling to treat everyone the same, especially when it comes to gay marriage.
Congressman King, I would love to see you start to listen to your own words and treat everyone with respect and embrace each individual for who they are, not who you think they should be or how they should act.
Congressman King, I hope you are ready for the 2010 elections. The Kutcher campaign will be getting a lot of backing - the gays, the african-americans, the hispanics, the muslims...I could go on because there are so many groups you have not been able to embrace and accept.
Supporters of bill to combat hate crimes urged to call Congress
With support for this bill increasing among many groups a strong coalition has formed. Now is the time for action and these organizations are teaming up to start a national call-in campaign to urge their followers to call their member of Congress and ask them to Support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The call in number can be found below in the press release from the Human Rights Campaign. TAKE ACTION NOW and let's finally get a Federal Hate Crimes bill that includes LGBT people passed.
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, announced today a coalition campaign to call Congress in support of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which would provide local police and sheriff’s departments with federal resources to combat hate violence. After more than a decade of lobbying on Capitol Hill and seven successful votes on the bill, this critical piece of legislation is again expected to see a vote in the House this week. The call-in campaign is set for April 27-29.
“We've received word that the House will vote on the Matthew Shepard Act very soon and we know that right-wing groups are flooding Congress with calls, emails and sickening ‘fact sheets’ full of lies about the lives of LGBT Americans,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “We need more calls to Members of Congress, and we need them right away. It has been ten long years and tens of thousands more victims since the Matthew Shepard Act was first introduced in Congress. We are poised for a presidential signature this year but lies from the radical right could easily derail our efforts. We must not allow them to continue to demagogue and distort the truth.”
It takes about 45 seconds. Members of the community are urged to call 202-224-3121. Callers are urged to tell the Member’s office:
• Hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are on the rise. One out of every six hate crimes is because of the victim's sexual orientation.
• Hate crimes have more than one victim. They are intended to create an atmosphere of fear and terrorize entire communities.
• The Matthew Shepard Act targets only violent acts – not speech. It does not tell any clergy member what he or she can or can't preach.
Because there is no federal law mandating states and municipalities to report hate crimes, they are often underreported. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s own statistics, based on voluntary reporting, show that since 1991 over 100,000 hate crime offenses have been reported to the FBI, with 7,624 reported in 2007, the FBI’s most recent reporting period. Violent crimes based on sexual orientation constituted 16.6 percent of all hate crimes in 2007, with 1,265 reported for the year. In addition, while not captured in the federal statistics, transgender Americans too often live in fear of violence.
The LLEHCPA gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It provides the Justice Department with the ability to aid state and local jurisdictions either by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of violent crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury that were motivated by bias. It also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes.
A wide coalition of national organizations has called for the passage of the LLEHCPA legislation. Some of those organizations supporting this legislation include: the National Sheriffs Association; International Association of Chiefs of Police; 26 state Attorneys General; the National District Attorneys Association; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; the Anti-Defamation League; the NAACP; the National Council of La Raza; the Presbyterian Church; the Episcopal Church; and the National Disability Rights Network.
To take action to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes PreventionAct, please visit: www.FightHateNow.org
Mother of slain gay man makes plea to update federal statute
With this vital piece of legislation coming before committee Judy Shepard speaks out once again for a hate crimes law. Please go to FightHateNow.org and tell Congress how important this bill is. Don't let another life be lost to hate.
The following is a press release from the Human Rights Campaign about Judy's statement.
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization – released a video today as part of the effort to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) featuring Judy Shepard whose son Matthew was murdered in 1998 because he was gay.
“It’s been ten years since Judy Shepard lost her son Matthew and this video is a painful reminder that the federal government does not have the resources it needs to assist in prosecuting these horrific acts,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Since Matthew’s murder, tens of thousands of Americans have been victims of hate violence and it’s time to give local law enforcement the tools to combat this scourge.”
Tomorrow, the House Judiciary Committee will mark up the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA), also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. The bill would give the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence by providing the department with jurisdiction over crimes of violence where the victim is chosen because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
The video profiles the stories of hate crimes victims who were targeted because of who they are. They include:
· Angie Zapata who on a summer night in Greeley, Colorado, was bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher because she was transgender.
· Billy Ray Johnson a mentally disabled man from Texas who was taken to a party, ridiculed, knocked unconscious, and then dumped by the side of the road.
· Luis Ramirez who while walking home to his family in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, was beaten him to death by a group of young men yelling racial and ethnic epithets.
· Ryan Skipper of Eloise, Florida, who was robbed, driven to a dirt road and stabbed more than twenty times because he was gay.
· Sean Kennedy, a South Carolina man who died after he was assaulted by a man yelling anti-gay slurs. The state has no hate crime law and his attacker was sentenced to three years in prison.
#FightHateNow will update Twitter users on federal hate crimes legislation
I enjoy getting press releases from the various organizations working on LGBT equality. But I must say it really makes my day when one is about twitter. The following is the press release from the Human Rights Campaign:
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, today announced the #FightHateNow hashtag for Twitter users to contribute to and stay current on the status of the federal hate crimes bill, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA), now pending in the U.S. House. By entering #FightHateNow at search.twitter.com, anyone can review the real-time updates submitted by Twitter users on the hate crimes legislation, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act.
The Human Rights Campaign’s blog, HRC Back Story (www.hrcbackstory.org), will provide live coverage of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee markup of the hate crimes bill (H.R. 1913) on Twitter using the #FightHateNow hashtag. The markup is scheduled to begin tomorrow, April 22 at 10:15 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building.
HRC launched the website FightHateNow.org to arm voters with tools to help pass overdue federal hate crimes legislation. The site includes testimonials, up-to-the minute updates on congressional action, and specific action voters can take to ensure its passage. FightHateNow.org also features photos and videos illustrating the devastating impact hate crimes have on individuals and communities, answers frequently asked questions about the bill, and provides users with the tools to directly contact their members of Congress to urge them to support the legislation.
HRC today also released a new video and take action page featuring Judy Shepard as part of the effort to pass the hate crimes bill. Judy’s son Matthew was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998 because he was gay. Supporters of the hate crimes bill can view the video and send a message to their congressional leaders at http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/campaign/hate_crimes_video.
Have you heard that the hate crimes bill is coming before Congress again? This is the bill that will set the tone for all other action Congress takes on LGBT issues. If the community fails to come together and push for this bill to pass Congress it will be very unlikely that we will see movement on the Employee Non-Discrimination Act or a repeal of Don't Ask Dont Tell. Even though this seems like it should be an easy victory for the LGBT community that may not be the case. There is still a significant amount of work to be done to make sure members of congress do the right thing and pass the Matthew Shepard Act. We have been waiting over 10 years to get this passed and the time is right with Obama in office. He is waiting to sign it - we just need to get it there.
The following is a call to action from the Human Rights Campaign. Please join me in taking action today.
I hope you'll join me in sending a message to Congress: we can't wait any longer for a federal law to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans from violent hate crimes. Take action at:
Ordinary people are living in fear for their safety and their lives every day, in small towns and big cities. Hate crimes against LGBT people are on the rise, but the federal government has no direct authority to investigate, prosecute or help local law enforcement crack down.
We can't let this continue. We can't let friends and neighbors become targets for violence simply because of who they are.
Congress passed the hate crimes bill in 2007, but because of George Bush's veto threat, it never became law. And now, right-wing extremists are once again making outrageous claims that the bill would criminalize preachers, end free speech, and so on.
Will you help make sure their lies aren't the only things members of Congress are hearing about this bill? Please click below to send a note urging Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard Act.
It has been over a decade since Mathew Shepard was murdered because he was gay. Everytime I see his mom Judy this feeling overwhelms me and I think to myself, "Please let this be the year we pass Hate Crimes legislation for her."
More than 300 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations support bill to address hate crimes
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, hailed today the re-introduction of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which would provide local police and sheriff’s departments with federal resources to combat hate violence. After more than a decade of lobbying on Capitol Hill and seven successful votes on the bill, this critical piece of legislation was introduced with bipartisan support by Representatives John Conyers (D-MI) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). HRC is joined by more than 300 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations actively supporting its passage. The Senate is expected to introduce a bipartisan companion bill soon.
“Each year, thousands of Americans are violently attacked just because of who they are. These crimes not only harm individuals, they terrorize entire communities. After more than a decade of delay, it’s time to provide local police and sheriffs’ departments with the full resources of the Justice Department to address vicious hate crimes,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
Because there is no federal law mandating states and municipalities to report hate crimes, they are often underreported. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s own statistics, based on voluntary reporting, show that since 1991 over 100,000 hate crime offenses have been reported to the FBI, with 7,624 reported in 2007, the FBI’s most recent reporting period. Violent crimes based on sexual orientation constituted 16.6 percent of all hate crimes in 2007, with 1,265 reported for the year. In addition, while not captured in the federal statistics, transgender Americans too often live in fear of violence.
The LLEHCPA gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It provides the Justice Department with the ability to aid state and local jurisdictions either by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of violent crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury that were motivated by bias. It also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes.
A wide coalition of national organizations has called for the passage of the LLEHCPA legislation. Some of those organizations supporting this legislation include: the National Sheriffs Association; International Association of Chiefs of Police; 26 state Attorneys General; and the National District Attorneys Association.
In the 110th Congress, the LLEHCPA was introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-MI) and approved in the House by a bipartisan vote of 237-180. The Senate version, the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and offered as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization (DoD) bill. After a successful 60-39 vote to prevent a filibuster, the Matthew Shepard Act was adopted by voice vote and added to the DoD bill. Unfortunately, the hate crimes provision was not included in the final version of the DoD bill.
To take action to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes PreventionAct, please visit: www.FightHateNow.org
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