Land, Dobson, others urge Frist to stop hate crimes bill

By Tom Strode - Sep 30, 2005 - comment

ERLC President Richard Land and other pro-family leaders have called on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to block passage of legislation that would expand rights for homosexuals.

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson and American Family Association founder Donald Wildmon joined Land and 43 national and state leaders in a Sept. 20 letter telling Frist they “are looking to [him] to assure” a measure expanding hate crimes prevention to cover homosexuals and transgendered individuals fails to become law.

The House of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, H.R. 2662, in a somewhat surprising 223-199 vote Sept. 14. The House approved the hate crimes legislation as an amendment to the Children’s Safety Act, H.R. 3132, which would stiffen penalties for and supervision of sex offenders. Passage of the sex offender bill came in a 371-52 vote, even though it included the hate crimes measure.

While Land and his fellow signers said they strongly support the Children’s Safety Act, they “will adamantly oppose” the inclusion of the hate crimes language. That measure “was created as, and continues to be, an attempt by some to advance the cause of homosexuality.”

The hate crimes language would extend protection to include “gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.” The hate crimes law currently covers the classifications of race, color, religion and national origin.

“Sexual orientation” includes homosexuality. “Gender identity” may be different than a person’s sex and provides coverage for a category labeled transgender, an umbrella term that includes transsexuals and cross-dressers.

So far, the government has granted civil rights protections “based on certain immutable characteristics shared by humanity generally,” Land and the others said in the letter from the ERLC.

They warned the bill also could silence churches.

When the government establishes “more and more special rights,” it places limitations not only “upon actions, but speech and thought as well,” the pro-family leaders told Frist. “This trend will prepare the way for the outright ban of criticism of a lifestyle believed by millions of people of religious conviction to be contrary to the laws of God and nature. Thus, granting special rights and protections to homosexuals is inevitably a step toward removing rights from those who oppose homosexuality.”

There appears to be a majority in the Senate prepared to pass an expansion of the hate crimes law to include “sexual orientation.” The Senate version has 44 cosponsors. Last year, the Senate approved a similar expansion of hate crimes legislation as an amendment to a bill, but House leaders blocked final passage.

You may contact Frist’s office by calling (202) 224-3344 or by e-mailing through his website, http://frist.senate.gov .

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Abuse, Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Purity, Homosexuality, Citizenship, Legislation

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