Those who believe that sexual orientation should be included hate crime laws make the following arguments:
More than 40 percent of homosexuals and bisexuals report having been attacked because of their sexual orientation sometime during their life, despite official FBI statistics that report only a fraction of actual incidents.
Existing hate-crime laws do not mention gays, lesbians or homosexuals. By using the term "sexual orientation," the laws protect everyone equally, including heterosexuals.
Crimes against an individual usually affects only that individual, but hate crimes are intended to terrorize an entire group or class of people. Therefore, the impact of a hate crime is far greater and should be penalized more severely.
Rather than dividing the country into groups or classes, hate crimes act to reduce bigotry and lowers the level of hatred in society in general, which leads to more tolerance and peace.
No existing hate crime legislation has any affect on parental teaching of children or affects teaching the public schools. The laws only punish actual crimes committed, they do not affect freedom of speech or expression.Those who are opposed to including sexual orientation in hate crime legislation make the following arguments:
Including protection for gays and lesbians provides them special privileges.
Hate crimes legislation hinder parents who seek to protect their children from a lifestyle that is unhealthy and which they believe to be morally and spiritually wrong.
Rather than unite the country, hate crime laws divide us into politically correct subgroups and advance an agenda which is contrary to the values of most Americans.
Legislation which protects homosexuals will criminalize anti-gay speech and make it a crime for pastors to teach biblical passages about homosexuality and potentially make the pastor a conspirator if someone in his congregation commits a hate crime.
Hate crime laws give the government the power to interpret or classify as illegal some speech, thought, theology and moral beliefs.Where It Stands
There have been two Supreme Court rulings regarding hate crime laws, but neither of them dealt specifically with the sexual orientation issue. Cases in several states are continuing to challenge hate crime statues on constitutional grounds, but no rulings have been recorded thus far dealing directly with the sexual orientation issue.
