Pass Ohio's hate crime bill

Continued from`facing page

religion, national origin, and age. Classes of people who are generally valued by society and less likely to be victims of hate crimes are the ones easiest to win protection for.

This is not to say that we should not discuss the social equities of hate crime legislation, but until these folks argue that they should not be protected on the basis of their religion, we need to claim and hold the moral high ground in this debate.

The second arrow in their quiver of lies and deception is the claim that the laws will be abused and that the enhancements will be invoked every time a known gay person is robbed, whether it is a hate crime or not.

The truth is that hate crime enhancements are not automatic. We don't hear of the enhancement being invoked every time someone in one of the protected classes is a victim. The legal test for an offense to be a hate crime is very high, and prosecutors must make the case based on evidence each time.

Hate crime enhancements are rare. In 1997, 39 million violent crimes were committed in the entire United States. Only 9,000 of them were tried as hate crimes.

Their third and most effective arrow is also the most egregious. Here, our enemies claim that hate crimes are about "punishing thought" or one's ability to speak freely. Never mind the First Amendment, which protects all political speech, especially speech which is considered hateful, dangerous, and unpopular.

Nevertheless, our enemies have spent years building a propaganda campaign around this one, and it has been so effective that even people who ought to know better are buying into it.

Hate crimes are about violence and violent acts, not speech or thought. But we need to examine what they are saying so it can be defeated.

As early as 1996, Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, an anti-gay activist group connected to the Family Research Council, was on national television saying, "What [gays and lesbians] are striving for is to make it a crime to say that homosexuality is wrong."

A year later, LaBarbera said, "The danger that a lot of pro-family people see in hate crime legislation is there are people in the gay activist movement who will be willing to criminalize speech. These are people who seem to want to suggest that there are certain beliefs which simply should not be stated."

Pat Robertson's American Center for Law

and Justice, or ACLJ, has spent an incredible amount of time and resources on lawsuits which create case law to back up these claims, which, incidentally, are rooted in unfounded paranoia. Their claim essentially implies that adding "sexual orientation" and "gender" to hate crime laws infringes on their right to practice Christianity as they see fit.

This point of view has already made it to Ohio and is being heard by legislators.

Beatty's bill also contains a section aimed at hate groups and their boards which makes the organized commission of hate crimes an

act of domestic terrorism. Again, our enemies have completely gone off the edge of the paranoia scale without regard to the facts.

Mark Herrington of the Center for Bioethical Reform and the Columbus Alliance for Life authored an "Action Alert" distributed to Columbus area churches claiming that the bill "will establish a new category of hate criminal-an organization and its staff or board members and calls this domestic terrorism. Churches are not exempt."

Herrington then asks, "Could a pastor who preaches about homosexuality or abortion be named as an accessory if one of his parishioners subsequently commits a crime against a homosexual or abortion clinic?” The answer, of course, is no.

Herrington, no doubt, has plenty of ACLJ briefings to back up his other completely erroneous claim: “By naming organizations, the bill is clear-to silence all criticism of homosexuality and abortion. The potential for frivolous lawsuits and false convictions is enormous."

He closes by asking the question, “And if this passes, what will be the next part of the Gospel that becomes illegal?"

No matter how outrageous and ridiculous these claims sound, don't take them lightly. News accounts in every state that defeated similar bills quoted legislators giving reasons all too similar to Herrington when explaining their vote against it.

That means legislation designed to protect our very lives is going down in an organized campaign of lies and deception.

Will the truth win in Ohio?

If everyone stands up to be counted, yes. The lies win because they go largely unchallenged. They become like the truth. Moreover, if the lies are prevalent, they become a good excuse for legislators looking for a reason to vote against us.

Even more than in 1997, we cannot afford the silence of a single person on this issue. Peoples' lives depend on it.

Everyone needs to make calls and send emails to Ohio legislators. Our enemies flooded the Statehouse with calls and letters opposing the Beatty bill even before it was

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islative aides friendly to us complain that they are not seeing any signs of visible support from our side.

We need to consider forming a political action committee which can raise money to assemble legislative truth packets and buy advertising, if necessary.

But most importantly, we all need to be heard in our communities, churches, and at home. This effort must be won at its grass roots.

H.B. 277 is the first time a bill has been in the Ohio legislature to grant us a protection we do not currently have. This bill will be the barometer for legislators on the plausibility of future bills for things like domestic partner benefits and equality in employment.

The stakes are high for us. Unfortunately, our enemies realized that before we did, and now we must make up the time.

It's time to take a stand for the truth in Ohio. Our community is worth it.

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