|
Stop
Hate 2000 Newsletter – March 13, 2006
Fear may help breed hate crimes. There is
a human tendency to lash out against people or ideas who frighten them. The deeper the level of fear, the more likely there is to be a response of anger. When there is reason to fear for one's physical life, the emotional reaction can be very strong. There were terrorist attacks in London in early July, 2005. A July 23, 2005
Guardian Unlimited article states the Metropolitan Police “recorded
800 race and faith hate crimes since the July 7 attacks.”
The more we know about groups of people who are different than we
are, the less we tend to fear them. Should you find yourself feeling
very afraid of a group of people, that may be a sign that you need to
learn more about that group of people.
People interested in researching trends in crime may find the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation web site very helpful. The FBI web
site has statistics on different types of crime. On the FBI
web site, one can find hate crime statistics from 1995 to 2004.
There is information about data collection guidelines and there is a
training guide for hate crime data collection. The 2005 hate crime
statistics do not appear yet. The statistical information for the
United States for 2004
is interesting. According to the statistics, it appears racially
motivated hate crimes are the most common form of hate crime. Just
under 54% of the hate crimes reported were racially motivated.
Religious hate crimes came in second place, at 16.7%. Hate crimes on
the basis of sexual orientation were in third place, at 15.6%.
We encourage everybody who thinks they were a victim of crime based on
race, religion, ethnic background, gender, or sexual orientation to
report the crime and to ask that the police log the crime as a hate
crime. Having accurate statistics about hate crimes is an important
part of the struggle to end hate crimes. The California
Attorney General's Office has an online hate crimes pamphlet.
The pamphlet contains information about how to prevent hate crimes
and how to report hate crimes. One important thing people can do to
help reduce hate crimes is to ask political figures what their
position on hate crimes is. That can be very effective during
political campaigns.
A few of the news stories we have been following appear below:
In
the news for this month, an 18-year old walked into a gay bar in New
Bedford, Massachusetts armed with a hatchet and a gun. The youth
wounded three people with the weapons. According to news reports,
the young man went into a gay bar, got a drink and asked if it was a
gay bar. After learning he was in a gay bar, the man went to the
back of the bar where some men were playing pool and attacked two
men with a hatchet. He shot three people before leaving the bar. A
good description of the attack can be found on The
Patriot Leader web site. Anti-Semetic comments were written on
his bedroom walls. Additional information about the story can be
found on the WFSB/Eyewitness
News Everywhere, Anti-Defamation
League web sites. The suspect, Jacob Robida, was shot and killed
in a gun battle with the police. A CNN
news article provides more information about the gun battle, in
which Robida killed two people. The Human
Rights Campaign president is calling for more uniform hate
crimes. In his statement, he summarizes the crime as a man walking
into a gay bar, asking if it is a gay bar and then shooting people.
A
365Gay.com article reports on two murders in the Dallas area
that have caused fear in the gay community. Fortunately, the police
do not think there are any similarities in the murders.
Frank Gonzales and Gary Hashaway, both only 43, were murdered. The
article states there have been eight gay murders in Dallas since
2004. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the men who
died.
A
candidate for the United States Senate, Merrill Keiser, Jr., is
cited as being in favor of the death penalty for gay people. The
WorldNetDaily
and the Advocate
have stories about Merrill Kesier. Should the news report be
correct, this is a very serious situation. This would be a case
where a person standing for election to a powerful political office
is advocating making being gay a capital offense.
A
more positive note about sexual orientation based hatred was
forwarded to us. Christianity
Today has an article about a man who was convicted of murdering
a gay man. Gary Titus was convicted of murdering a gay teacher, Ken
Eaton. According to the article, Gary Titus' brother came out to
him and initially wanted nothing to do with Gary. Fortunately,
Gary's brother and a spiritual experience were able to help him
overcome some of his hatred of gay people. Gary makes a very
important statement about religion and homosexuality. While Gary
Titus feels same gender sexual activities are not supported by the
Bible, he comments, “Today I see many people using the Bible
as a weapon of hate against the gay community. Their actions make
them gay bashers . . . People who profess a Christian belief yet
respond to worldly situations out of hatred not only hurt their
communities, but they damage the unity of believers.”
James
Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, is reported to support
legislation that would allow same-sex couples some of rights
heterosexual couples enjoy. More about Dobson's position can be
read in an article on the Planet
Out web site.
Fred
Phelps is famous for picketing at the funerals of gay people.
According the a Planet
Out news article, Fred Phelps recently started to protest at the
funerals of American soldiers. The article says some states are
dealing with the problem of people protesting at funerals by passing
bills keeping protesters at least 300 feet away from funeral and
memorial services. An Associated Press article on the Planet
Out web site cites a member of Fred Phelps' church as saying
they do not plan on protesting at the funerals of soldiers in states
where there are laws against protesting at funerals.
The
American Civil Liberties Union sued the chief of police who blocked
attempts to save a gay man's life, because he felt the man was HIV
positive. According to an article on the Planet
Out web site, Claude Green Junior, a 43 year old gay man, lost
control of his vehicle. A friend in the truck managed to pull the
truck to the side of the road and performed CPR. The chief of
police arrived later, ordered the friend who was performing CPR to
stop. When the friend continued to perform CPR, the chief of police
is reported to have physically prevented him from continuing to
administer CPR. Unfortunately, Claude Green Junior passed away
later. He suffered from coronary artery disease. Any article that
reports the police prevented a gay person from receiving first aid
is very disturbing.
The
book, Pink Blood, was briefly mentioned in our last newsletter. We
are mentioning it again in this newsletter, because the book is a
must read for people interested in homophobia-based hate crimes.
Information about the book can be found on the Pinkblood
web site. The book can be purchased at www.amazon.ca
or www.amazon.com.
Anybody with news about hate crimes is welcome to email us.
Back Issues of Newsletter
You can subscribe to the Stophate Newsletter. Our Newsletter will help you keep up to date with information about hate crimes.
Email Us Your Name and type "Subscribe" in the in the Subject Line.
|