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Stop
Hate 2000 Newsletter November 18, 2006
The
PlanetOut
web site has an article
about 12 and 14 year old boys who were charged under Maine's hate
crimes legislation for vandalizing a lesbian couple's home. According
to the article, valuables were stolen, furniture and windows were
broken, pesticides sprayed, car damaged, urine and feces were in the
car and the home, and anti-gay comments were written on the walls of
the home.
When
a person reads of two boys committing such a crime, one is left to
wonder where children learn such hate. Is this kind of hate learned
at home, at school, in church, from society in general? What causes
such a deep level of fear and hatred?
Some people feel hate is a learned emotion. When we read about hate crimes committed by children, one is left wondering how society can better teach love and acceptance.
The PlanetOut news article underscores the need for groups like Stop Hate 2000. Hate crimes are a daily occurrence in almost every country, state or province.
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The
Stop Hate 2000 web complex has a new resource. A set of web pages
dedicated to bullying is now on our web site. The pages on bullying
were added, because bullying is often a hate crime, where anybody who
is a visible or could be an invisible minority is targeted for abuse.
The new resource pages, Stop
Bullying, supplements a variety of bullying related web links on
our web resources
page.
A
source of news about hate crimes in the United States can be found on
the Yahoo
Hate Crimes News web pages.
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A few of the news stories we have been following appear below:
A
report by Alice Samson and Coretta Philips, Reducing Repeat
Racial Victimisation on an East London Estate, may be of
interest to those who are attempting to reduce hate crimes in their
local communities. The report can be found on the United Kingdom
Home
Office Race Relations web pages. The program implemented in a
housing authority in east London is credited with as 12% reduction
in repeat racial victimization. We are not certain how well the
positive outcomes could be duplicated in other communities, but the
report is worth serious consideration.
The
Houston
Chronicle web site has a news story about a Hispanic teen who
was beaten and sodomized with a plastic pipe.
The
Journal
Live site has an article about a Bangladeshi family. The
family's home was attacked by an arsonist. The grandfather of the
family collapsed and died.
This
fall saw news stories about well-known people. Reichen Lehmkuhl, who
is Lance Bass' boyfriend, says he was sexually assaulted while a
cadet in the United States Air Force Academy. Since then, both
Lehmkuhl and Bass have received death threats. The complete article
is found on the Advocate
web site. Ted Haggard was the pastor of the Colorado Springs,
Colorado mega-church, New Life Church, and president of the National
Association of Evangelicals. He resigned as president of the
National Association of Evangelicals and was fired as pastor of New
Life Church after allegations were made that he had been seeing a
male prostitute for three years. A series of articles about Ted
Haggard can be found on the CNN
web site. This story is of interest to those advocating for gay
rights, because Haggard opposed same-sex marriage. Activist Mel
White wrote a new book, Religion Gone Bad: The
Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right. The book can
be purchased from the Soulforce
web site.
A
July PlanetOut
news article reports on the arrests of 14 people in Latvia. The
people were arrested for having attacked activists and dignitaries
during gay pride celebrations in Riga, Latvia. According to the
article, some protesters threw tomatoes, eggs, and bags of urine at
people entering a pride-related service at an Anglican church.
An
Advocate
article about Georgia Tech University is of interest to those who
wish to place reasonable limits on freedom of speech, in the
interest of preventing hate crimes, and those who believe there
should be almost no limits on freedom of speech. Georgia Tech
University is no longer forbidding students from making anti-gay
comments.
The police
arrested a man for a hate-crime attack that took place during pride
events at a San Diego park. According to an article in the Advocate,
three men, armed with baseball bats and a knife, attacked the
victims.
In a July 2006
Advocate
article, three gang members are reported to be facing hate-crimes
charges for beating people at a Riverside, California gay bar.
The Advocate
carries an article about
a Texas pastor who has been accused of raping a church member, after
telling her she was possessed by a lesbian demon. Evidently, the
pastor is denying the accusation. The article can be read on the
Advocate web site.
There is very
good news regarding protecting gay and lesbian students from
bullying. Legislation proposed to protect gay and lesbian students
from bullying is reported by the Advocate
as having received the some important political support.
Anybody
with news about hate crimes or discrimination is welcome to email us.
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