tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787875900754980960.post3226409223154912697..comments2023-10-20T06:37:52.355-07:00Comments on Keystone Progress Blog: Take Action: Help Restore PA's Hate Crimes LawKeystone Progresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02788645438098954570noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787875900754980960.post-82301465435437941972008-08-20T14:42:00.000-07:002008-08-20T14:42:00.000-07:00fstair, your hypothetical is a different situation...fstair, your hypothetical is a different situation which should be handled differently by law enforcement. If Rick had initiated the violence, naturally he would deserve to be held responsible. No one is saying that GLBT people deserve some special legal status. All we want is parity.<BR/><BR/>As the law stands now, Pennsylvania prosecutes hate crimes perpetrated based on the victim's ethnicity or religion. I am not thrilled with the legal concept of a hate crime to begin with, but if the state operates on that concept, it ought to acknowledge that hate crimes based on gender, gender identity or sexual orientation should also be prosecuted. Anything less is discriminatory.H. Lewis Allwayshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02163948719970735729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787875900754980960.post-436317270501902008-08-20T07:34:00.000-07:002008-08-20T07:34:00.000-07:00If the "queer" in your anecdote had won the fight,...If the "queer" in your anecdote had won the fight, and for all we know, perhaps he did, and the other fellow was beaten for refusing your friend's advances, should your friend then be considered to have committed a "hate" crime? If you believe there are not some "tough" and aggressive "queers", then you have lived a queer reality.<BR/><BR/>If one person intentionally physically harms another, that's a hate crime, whatever the imagined origin of the hate, be it that the other was black, or white, or a bully or bullied, or queer or straight, or even a brother or a sister! <BR/><BR/>If you but read the newspaper, in the course of a few days you can read about an incredible litany of violence in every locale for an endless array of alleged grievances. This in an extremely violent and desensitized country, and instead of working to improve it you and yours just want to feel superior.<BR/><BR/>This is an exercise of collective hand-wringing by a group of the self righteous who want to impress the rest of us that they care more.fstairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00532926217223863462noreply@blogger.com