[Faith-talk] Fw: Jan. 8: New Jersey Passes Dangerous Hate-Crimes Bill

Tue Jan 8 22:53:49 CST 2008

I don't get it.  Other than being generally vague as to what exactly
gender expression and identity are, all this does is expand what things
that are already crimes can carry the additional charge of being a hate
crime.

Quite frankly, if someone takes a baseball bat to some guy because he's
somehow become convinced that he should be treated as a woman in every
respect, such a thing deserves to be labeled a hate crime.  That is what
it would be.  That's an important thing to realize here: Hate crime
statutes only apply when a violent crime has taken place.

This legislation, from my understanding, does not protect the children
from exposure to people who have very confused ideas about who they are
made to be, except perhaps by intimidating those people into thinking that
someone who tries to harm them for what they're doing will face lesser
charges than those applied to hate crimes.  We don't need that kind of
protection for our children.

The issue of extra sensitivity training related to sexual identity..  I
have a small problem with that, but frankly we already have so much of
that sort of thing that this additional bit is really a drop in the
bucket.  If these new officers don't get their sensitivity training from
this bill, they will surely get it from something else.  That's no reason
to hold back just consequences from those who would do violence upon
another just because that person somehow offends them.

I am far more concerned that our college campuses now organize student
events to test people's straightdar.  Can you identify the one person
among these who is NOT gay?  Or the notion that it is acceptable to take
pride in being gay, but not to take pride in being straight.  Or that God
is taboo but pornography is shown and then discussed as part of the
academic discourse of certain college courses.  Frankly, if we are
concerned about same-sex attraction or gender identification, expression,
and let's be honest, confusion, we have more significant problems that
need to be addressed than whether or not violence against such people
should be considered a hate crime.

Just my opinion.

Joseph

On Tue, Jan 08, 2008 at 09:18:32PM -0500, Everett Gavel wrote:
> FYI
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "CitizenLink" <citizenlink at family.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008
> Subject: Jan. 8: New Jersey Passes Dangerous 
> Hate-Crimes Bill
> 
> 
> CITIZENLINK DAILY UPDATE
> Jan. 8, 2008
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------
> TOP STORY
> ----------------------------------------------
> New Jersey Passes Dangerous Hate-Crimes Bill
> by Devon Williams, associate editor
> 
> SUMMARY: Legislation adds gender identity as a 
> protected status.
> 
> New Jersey lawmakers voted Monday to give transgendered 
> individuals
> special rights. If Gov. Jon Corzine signs the 
> legislation, the state
> would be among the first to grant such strong rights. 
> According to
> gay-activist groups, New Jersey has 153 laws to protect 
> homosexuals and
> transgendered people.
> 
> The first section of the bill adds "gender identity or 
> expression" to
> the existing hate-crimes law, which includes sexual 
> orientation, race
> and religion. The bill also requires all new police 
> officers to attend
> a mandatory, two-hour hate-crimes sensitivity training.
> 
> "This particular piece of legislation is very strong 
> because it
> includes 'gender expression,' which is not defined," 
> said Greg
> Quinlan of New Jersey Family First, the legislative arm 
> of the New
> Jersey Family Policy Council. "What does 'gender 
> expression' mean?"
> 
> In December, a federal hate-crimes measure fell apart 
> over the effort
> to protect "actual or perceived sexual orientation or 
> gender
> identity."
> 
> Caleb H. Price, research analyst for Focus on the 
> Family, said the New
> Jersey legislation is not necessary.
> 
> "Not only is there no need for adding the category of 
> 'gender
> identity or expression'," he said, "but this category 
> is
> inherently ambiguous and unlimited - and is subject to 
> an
> ever-morphing understanding of a person's 'perceptions' 
> about their
> biological gender."
> 
> Quinlan said the bill puts families, particularly women 
> and children,
> in danger.
> 
> "What is the protection from these people going into a 
> restroom where
> they identify themselves as a different gender, yet 
> they're using the
> facilities at the same time you are?" he said. "It's 
> exposing
> children - an unintended consequence of the law."
> 
> The legislation also creates a Commission on Bullying 
> in Schools, which
> has nine months to investigate and make recommendations 
> to the
> governor.
> 
> "New Jersey already has anti-bullying laws in place," 
> Quinlan said,
> "but the bullying commission is set up to be totally 
> sexually
> oriented."
> 
> The bill is on Corzine's desk.
> 
> "The people of New Jersey have got to stand up," 
> Quinlan said.
> "It's time to speak up."
> 
> TAKE ACTION
> If you live in New Jersey, urge Gov. Corzine to veto 
> this bill. You can
> find contact information through our Action Center.
> 
> http://capwiz.com/fof/utr/1/KETZHZHUMO/GFXSHZHUMR/1651323426/
> 
> FOR MORE INFORMATION
> Read about the dangers of hate-crimes legislation.
> 
> http://capwiz.com/fof/utr/1/KETZHZHUMO/CLNKHZHUMS/1651323426
> 
> 
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