Capitol Hill turns blind eye to hate crimes
by Michael Alian, Outpost contributor
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Matthew Shepard, a gay
college student, was beaten to death at 21 because
of his sexual orientation. |
The men accused of savagely murdering him, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, were sentenced to two life terms in prison. Neither will pay the ultimate price of death for the killing.
Why was Shepard beaten and left to die on that cold snowy night in October?
He was gay.
This disturbing incident is a stark reminder that no gay or lesbian person in this country is safe from this type of hate crime. But don't tell that to members of the House of Representatives.
In October, representatives defeated the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. It would have expanded federal discrimination laws to include hate crimes based on sexual orientation. Earlier this year, the Senate passed the act as an amendment in an appropriations bill.
It was a surprising and disturbing end to the battle on Capitol Hill for more anti-hate crime legislation. Many Republican representatives used a "family values" campaign to defeat the measure. This is another frightening vote from a conservative House.
Shepard's murder was not an isolated incident. In 1995 alone, two dozen hate crimes were reported in Nevada. Nationally, the Los Angeles Times reports hate crimes surged 260% from 1988 through 1996. Almost two dozen people were killed in 1997 in the United States because someone didn't agree with their sexual orientation. Also in October, the FBI released 1998 statistics that show race, religion and sexual orientation are the top factors in bias-motivated crimes. Crimes that kill. Crimes that aren't properly prosecuted as a result of Congress' misinformed vote on the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Tell that to Adam Colton's parents. The northern California teen was attacked twice between September 1998 and February this year. He attributed those attacks to his coming out while attending San Marin High School in the San Francisco area.
Tell Dorothy Hajdys-Holman her son's death may have been prevented with more anti-hate crime legislation on the books. Her son, Allen Schindler, was beaten to death by two fellow sailors in October 1992. Schindler was 22 and gay.
Members of the House should have done their homework before voting down the act. Additional anti-hate crime legislation is needed now.
Representatives must take a good, hard look at more anti-hate crime legislation. Here's an important question to ask your representative: How many gay and lesbian people do you know? Imagine your child, brutally beaten to death.
Matthew Shepard wasn't just a statistic, another number on the FBI report. He was a college student struggling for his identity, struggling to be comfortable with being himself, struggling to find his niche in this complex and hateful world.
Edmund Burke, an 18th century philosopher, once said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Evil prevailed on Oct. 12, 1998, when Shepard was murdered. Evil prevailed again a year later when representatives dismissed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Posted Nov. 18, 1999
Copyright 1999 Nevada Outpost
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