[SynthethicalY]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/0...s_n_66147.html

What an idiot.

[floatingslowly]

there are no hate crimes in Iran.

[Cardinal Rob]

So you're free to exist if you happen to be a gayer in the US, but if you want respect for it, you gone to tha wrong countree. May as well move to Iran, with no native gays they probably have a gap in the market there.

[ThePits]

I am baffled, why do we need a law making violence a criminal offence on the basis of gender, sexual orientation etc when violence is already an offence?

Its worse to commit an act of violence on a homosexual than it is a heterosexual or on an asian person than an caucasian?

Shouldnt we be condemning all violence against a person as equally reprehensible rather than elevating specific groups above others?

Is it me or has common sense in this world gone straight out of the bloody window

[val-holla-ing]

yes we should condemn all violence against a person, but the sad thing is that some violence ONLY occurs as a result of negative feelings about one's race, gender, sexuality, etc. until that sort of thing stops happening, then there need to be laws to protect "other" people from that sort of violence.

[Magic Wheel Memory]

Originally Posted by ThePits

I am baffled, why do we need a law making violence a criminal offence on the basis of gender, sexual orientation etc when violence is already an offence?

Its worse to commit an act of violence on a homosexual than it is a heterosexual or on an asian person than an caucasian?

Shouldnt we be condemning all violence against a person as equally reprehensible rather than elevating specific groups above others?

Is it me or has common sense in this world gone straight out of the bloody window

I'm probably with you on this one. As awful as it is to hate anyone, it is your right, in this country, to hate. You don't have the right to perpetrate violence. That's why we already have laws against violence. When we start policing people's thoughts and ideals, even if they are the ugliest thoughts and ideals, then I get scared.

[val-holla-ing]

so what about when people start acting on that hate?

[Magic Wheel Memory]

Originally Posted by val-holla-ing

so what about when people start acting on that hate?

That's when they become lawbreakers and need to be punished severely.

Vernon Reid, the black guitarist from Living Colour, described it best when talking about racist Guns and Roses lyrics. He said (and I'm paraphrasing) that he hates the fact that Axl would sing such lyrics, but he would be more opposed to a society that would take away his right to do so.

[val-holla-ing]

i agree. hate all you want, but there need to be laws that protect people who live certain lifestyles or whatever from ignorant fucks who can't keep a lid on their feelings and let that passion permeate their actions. but it needn't always necessarily a violent act to be considered breaking the law, i don't think. flying a swastika in front of a group of jewish people, or hanging nooses in the open for people of color to see; those things aren't just hateful thoughts, those are symbols that, in the past, preceded some very horrendous acts. those things, to us, are promises of what's to come.

[Magic Wheel Memory]

Originally Posted by val-holla-ing

i agree. hate all you want, but there need to be laws that protect people who live certain lifestyles or whatever from ignorant fucks who can't keep a lid on their feelings and let that passion permeate their actions. but it needn't always necessarily a violent act to be considered breaking the law, i don't think. flying a swastika in front of a group of jewish people, or hanging nooses in the open for people of color to see; those things aren't just hateful thoughts, those are symbols that, in the past, preceded some very horrendous acts. those things, to us, are promises of what's to come.

Do you think swastikas should be illegal? I doubt that any of the proposed hate crime laws include the display of offensive symbols.

[val-holla-ing]

no, swastikas shouldn't be illegal. keep it in your house all you want, but when you take it into public in a negative manner, you need to be held accountable for your actions.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by val-holla-ing

no, swastikas shouldn't be illegal. keep it in your house all you want, but when you take it into public in a negative manner, you need to be held accountable for your actions.

what about burning crosses?

[pbradley]

Well those are a fire hazard so no.

[SynthethicalY]

We don't want to start a fire like the 1906 San Francisco fire.

On a more sinister note, I was reading yesterday that bullying of homosexual kids at school has reached an all time high in Britain. What do gay groups do to raise awarness on this matter? They make a musical. Jesus wept big fat gay tears.

[pbradley]

I say state-enforced buggering of homophobes.

[pbradley]

We'll be sure to let you tell that to gay kid tied to the tetherball poll beaten within an inch of his life, Captain Sympathy.

I mean we all got the living shit beaten out of us on a daily basis in high school, right? Right?

[pbradley]

You're right, Justice is a shit idea anyways. Somedays you get stabbed to death, other days you do the stabbing. That's life.

Perhaps it's because you are a complete idiot, but you might want to remind yourself that some kids get bullied for 'being suspected of being gay', not just because thay are at an age when confusion of any kind also makes them more vulnerable to many things, including being bullied. Your level of ignorance on this matter doesn't give you any right to express an opinion, and this coming from someone who escaped being bullied altogether, gay or not.

Edit - Sway

[ThePits]

Originally Posted by val-holla-ing

yes we should condemn all violence against a person, but the sad thing is that some violence ONLY occurs as a result of negative feelings about one's race, gender, sexuality, etc. until that sort of thing stops happening, then there need to be laws to protect "other" people from that sort of violence.

Are people not protected by the very fact that violence against the person is already illegal?

Wouldn't the common sense approach be to treat all violence as equally unacceptable under one non discriminatory law and to take into account the circumstances and reasons behind the violence on sentencing?