Setting the record straight on hate crimes
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Act of 2009 passed the House of Representatives yesterday (249-175). Among other things the bill, broadens federal hate crimes protection to include persons targeted because of “gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability,” and it’s been the subject of a great deal of misinformation in the media. The spin comes in many forms and appears in many places:
CBN News uses “he said/she said” reporting that puts the bill’s supporters’ verifiable statements and opponents’ highly speculative claims on equal footing:
Conservatives and Christians warn that if the bill becomes law, it could eventually lead to criminalizing preaching against homosexuality. But supporters of the bill say free speech is still protected.
The Washington Times reads hate crime legislation supporters’ minds:
But the motivation isn’t about punishing crime as much as it is about controlling certain thoughts and views.
On Fox News, Molly Henneberg relies on pure speculation to drag the red herring of gay marriage into the issue:
…they may be prosecuted for their religious beliefs if they believe that homosexuality is a sin, that it could gag ministers who preach that, or even if a church may not want to marry a gay couple. There is concern that they could face lawsuits as well.
OneNewsNow relies on a lone source who makes false claims:
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation that one conservative Christian activist says protects bizarre sexual orientations and threatens the free speech of those who dare speak out publicly against homosexuality.
These reports disregard the actual content of the bill, which defines a hate crime as follows:
`(A) IN GENERAL- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person-
The bill explicitly protects the religious liberty and free speech of religious groups that oppose homosexuality and preach against it (see Sections 6 and 8). CBN’s false equivalence, the Washington Times’ attribution of sinister motive, Fox’s utterly fanciful speculation, and OneNewsnow’s falsehood all portray the bill as criminalization of religious belief and speech, when in fact it only pertains to physical violence.
See Third Way’s outstanding Q&A sheet for a thorough straightening of the record.