Oklahoma is one of 17 states to not include gay people in hate crimes. A gay man was murdered in Oklahoma and now people are saying "something should be done to change the laws" Its really sad that it takes a man dying to want things to change it shouldn't be like this. The law should already include gay people in hate crimes. So basically somebody can go out and kill a gay person just because they know that person is gay and the person won't get charged with a hate crime in 17 STATES!
Thats horrible. I don't understand how 17 states could not have it included yet. I also don't see why people can't accept other people. We live in a messed up world.
I agree that it's wrong for someone to die to have ppl see the error in their ways (like in Romeo + Juliet...sorry it's late and I like that movie/play) As a side-note, I think it's the same in Australia, Tom, in that different states have different laws. There are, however, Federal laws which cover the entire country. But I also agree that in matters like this, the laws should just be the same in the whole country
Well "America" is working on it. The Mathew Shepherd act is being considered in Congress right now. Really, all of you that are in the U.S. should sign up for the Human Rights Campaign e-mails. This gives you alert on what is happening associated with gay rights. You can take action by calling your legislators and telling them to vote for these laws!
So i guess its something like Ireland, scotland and wales having different laws from england? apart from Ireland Scotland and Wales like to call themselfs "countries" so maybe its not exactly the same..... In my opinion, they should all just join together with England =/
Technically the entire united states does have the same laws in terms of federal law. Unfortunately, it is the case that individual states can make their laws more strict if they choose to do so. The problem with trying to make every state in the union have the same laws is that nobody can agree on a single set of laws that makes everyone happy. This is why some states are more conservative than others. The interesting thing is that there is no federal statue in place that makes gay marriage illegal, for instance. This is why the state can institute their own policies that make it so. I don't see the country ever agreeing on a single set of laws, so I wouldn't get my hopes up for anything like this happening anytime soon. with that said, and back on topic, it also follows that there is no federal statue in place that makes crimes against gay people covered in the hate crime laws in all states. Which is what the HRC is working to push through with the Matthew Shepard Act. Let's all hope that it gets put into effect. The main dilemma that the HRC is facing right now is that they are having to attach the act to a "must pass" bill so that none of the conservatives in the government can vote it down or veto it. Right now that "must pass" bill is in danger again.
First off, that's horrible. It's ridiculous that there should be anyone AGAINST including that on the list of hate crimes. It fits the definition perfectly... Also, for foreigners who may be confused about why states have their own laws, it's something rooted in the formation of the country. As the U.S. was forming back in 1787, many people favored having states that were only loosely held together, with the state governments controlling their own internal laws (an ideology led by/affiliated with Thomas Jefferson and the early Democratic-Republican political faction, if you want to get more specific). Basically, it comes down to the 10th Amendment to our constitution (the last section of the Bill of Rights) which states: Essentially, anything that is not passed as federal legislature through Congress or mandated specifically by the Constitution can be decided independently by the states' legislatures. Whether this is somewhat outdated... well, I don't know, but that's the historical basis for it.
