Can Someone enlighten me?

[disney's daughter]

First of all..I am not gay...but, I honestly cannot understand why people can be so prejudice against them...I really can't...I guess my brain just doesn't think that way...Not in my nature...

Anyway, I couldn't sleep one night..so, I turned on the old TV and started flipping channels...and I came across a "Logo" station....Of course...after watching a few weddings and testimonies...I was bawling like a baby...Then something came on about the "hate crimes"....People were picketing....

OK..Here is what I don't understand...If "Straight" Jane Doe is murdered and "Gay Jane Doe" is murdered....What is the difference? They were both murdered...Weren't "both" of them "hated" ? Isn't the end result is the same?

By the way...I believe Gays should have the same rights as Straights...marriages...divorces...property settlements, health insurance benefits...the whole nine yards...

 

[Chuck S]

The difference, of course, is that hate on the part of the person committing the crime is the primary motivation for committing the crime in the first place. For instance, the law seems seems to make allowances for "temporary insanity" or "crimes of passion", as circumstances/passions have impact on the motive for the crime...thus hate also has an impact on the "motive"...for instance, in the case of Matthew Shepard, out and out hatred of homosexuals was the driving force behind the motive. Other than that hatred, it is unlikely the crime would have taken place, there were no other motives in force, like robbery or extortion, no "money trail". as in the perpretrators did not gain anything financially, like an inheritance from their victim. Not all crimes are "hate crimes", some are crimes of passion, some are crimes of greed, some are financial circumstances. But in a Hate Crime a foolish hatred about one aspect of the victim is the motive.

 

[disney's daughter]

Thank you for responding...I understand. now..How foolish of me to not have before....

Thank you for having the patience to explain it to me...

 

[MrVisible]

I think there's more to it than that, though. It has to do with not just the crime itself, but the crime as it affects an entire minority population.

If "Straight Jane Doe" gets murdered, say by a jealous husband or a random mugger, then it's a tragedy. It affects her family, her friends, her co-workers, her entire circle of personal relationships as a tragic occurrence.

If "Gay Jane Doe" gets murdered, and the person who murders her does so simply because she's gay then it not only affects her social circle, it affects every gay person in the area. Suddenly, there's someone out there that is willing to kill us simply because of who we are.

Painting a swastika on a synagogue has an entirely different effect than painting "Kilroy was here" on the very same building. In one case the perpetrator is trying to terrify and intimidate an entire population, and in the other they're just a *******.

Now, imagine if you knew that there were people out there that you don't know, that you've never met, and that want to kill you. You've never done anything to them, you have no way of knowing who they are, all you know is that they want you and everyone like you dead.

Every hate crime is more than just the crime itself; it's a message of intimidation and terror sent to an entire population. It's that factor that sets these crimes apart from other, differently-motivated offenses. It's a fine distinction, but I believe it's an important one.

 

[disney's daughter]

Thank you both for all your information...I can't imagine to always wonder who might be after me just because I am "me"...I know this may sound odd to most people,...but, even though I am 56 years old...I really can't understand that kind of "hate"...Even that many years ago..and being brought up in the South...my parents never "taught" me there were any differences....including race and religion...My father was in World War II...and would tell us how horrible the jews were treated....and I remember asking over and over..."Why?"......It simply could not "click in my brain" as to any reason why they should have been treated any differently....So..I guess that when I asked the question as to what difference did it make when it came to the straight woman being murdered and the gay woman being murdered..when in the end...they were "both" murdered...I didn't stop to think what all "led" up to the the gay woman's murder in the first place...

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

I'm gay and I have to say, "hate crimes" have always baffled me as well.

I think murder is murder, assault is assult. I don't care why one does it (you were on drugs, you hate gay people, you hate people who wear Mickey Mouse shirts, you're just crazy), you should pay for it the same.

Then again, I'm a pretty black and white person when it comes to things like that. Normally I like to recognize the grey in between, but violence of any form, of any motivation, just shouldn't be tolerated. That goes for things like "crimes of passion" as well - if you kill someone, I don't care if they cheated on you with your best friend while you dad was watching, it's still just wrong.

But that's just my view on things. I feel like making it a "special" crime just goes against the whole "we're just like everyone else" truth, but as others have said in their replies, it means something different to everyone.

NED