Quote Originally Posted by DebbieL View Post
Here in the United States, there are places, like Houston Texas, where gays and transgenders have been beaten to death and the perpetrators were charged with involuntary manslaughter, and given probation.
Yes the argument against hate crime legislation does seem a little odd. I don't want to make this a conservative versus liberal argument so let's just say, that a certain segment of people who don't want things to get better, like to pretend that all people are equal under current laws. The sad fact is that some are more equal than others and laws are argued and interpreted on a case by case basis. Someday it really won't matter what someone looks or acts like, but until then accommodations have to be made under force of law to protect those of us who are most vulnerable. A quick internet search will reveal dozens of cases in the last 10 years where TG women were murdered in cold blood by cowardly closet queens who received minimal jail time if any, because their lawyers (public defenders in some cases) successfully argued that the killer was so surprised and enraged by the victim's penis that they couldn't help themselves and became temporarily insane while they stabbed, or strangled, or bludgeoned the victim to death. After having sex of course.

Why hate crimes? Well, in cases like this you can either make good lawyering illegal, or you can make killing someone BECAUSE of their trans status an aggravating factor. You see, without the "protection" of law, a victim's trans status can be used against them by playing to the prevailing fears and prejudices of the time. The same thing applies to black folks, because there was a time when a black kid could be beaten at the very least just for showing some interest in a white girl. The perpetrators will freely admit the assault was BECAUSE he was black, but he should have known better. If he would have just known his place than he wouldn't have fallen into such unfortunate circumstances. Hate crime laws just add a little extra nudge to the idea that it's NOT okay to attack someone just because you don't like who they are. It's an imperfect solution for an imperfect justice system.

Why it offends a certain segment of the population so much, I'll never understand.