Point: The Matthew Shepard Act will show that hate is not tolerated
Filed by: Mercedes Allen
February 8, 2009 1:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2009/02/point_the_matthew_shepard_act_will_show.phpI'm not one to believe that legislation is a be-all and end-all solution to the troubles that plague us, but it can be a necessary step in order to achieve equality in spirit. Hate crime laws exist because assumed and cultural prejudices, the need of certain institutions (some religions, or government) to manufacture a common enemy, and human nature's fundamental impulse to fear and revile what we don't understand all ensure that equality in its purest principle cannot be simply assumed and left to chance. Equality must be safeguarded with particular care to protect the marginalized, and environments must be created so that the machinations that drive discrimination can be confronted and defused over the long term.
Such is the Matthew Shepard Act, which was proposed as H.R. 1592 to add sexual orientation, gender identity and disability to the protected classes under hate crime law, as well as to remove some restrictive barriers to placing hate crimes charges, and adding crimes against transgender people to those being statistically tracked.
Although nothing is ever perfect, we can't allow our cynicism to keep us from seeing the potential ramifications of legislation like this.
