Cloture Vote On Hate Crimes Bill Thursday

HRC Backstory has the breaking news of the cloture motion filed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on S. 1105, the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. This means that if the bill receives 60 votes on the floor of the Senate on Thursday September 27th, debate is terminated and a majority vote is called. The bill currently has 43 co-sponsors, with Republicans Snowe and Collins of Maine and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Pam over at The Blend has excerpts from a Boston Globe op-ed by Professor Cornel West of Princeton University and Dr. Sylvia Rhue of the National Black Justice Coalition where they seek to refute the nonsensical statements by African American preachers who have claimed passage of the hate crames bill would somehow censor them and force preachers to conduct same-sex marriages or face fines or imprisonment. West and Rhue respond:

The truth is that the Matthew Shepard Act protects all First Amendment rights. And, although that is a given, this bill goes out of its way to protect the free speech of ministers. Those pastors who wish to continue condemning and dehumanizing the gay community will be free to do so.

The hate crimes bill provides resources for the investigation of violent actions - not beliefs, thoughts, or words. The proposed federal statute does not punish nor prohibit free expression of one's religious beliefs. As University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey R. Stone recently concluded, "The argument of the pastors that the proposed legislation in any way threatens their right to preach their version of the Gospel is, to be frank, ridiculous."

Despite the ridiculousness of their claims, the powerful and cash-rich antigay lobby continues to mold opinion against this legislation with fear and falsehoods. Leaders like Jackson have used provocative "thought crime" arguments to obscure the truth that, according to the FBI, 1,017 people were the targets of violent crimes in 2005 because of their sexual orientation.

Their rhetoric steals attention away from the stories of gay couples being viciously beaten for holding each other's hand in public or a flight attendant sought out to be heinously murdered simply because he was gay.

These preachers don't care to hear the thousands of stories of lives and communities scarred by antigay violence. And, conveniently, those who bring up the reality that the Matthew Shepard Act is a constitutional and important means to prevent antigay violence are labeled by these clergy as "anti-Christian." The good intentions of this legislation have been greeted by malice by these manipulators of fact.

Contact your Senators and tell them to vote YES on S. 1105!