Call It What It Is

I get so tired of people saying that we didn't need to expand Hate Crimes legislation to include things like sexual orientation, because, really, they say, aren't all crimes hate crimes?

I've always answered No and given the example of a man walking down the street who is beaten and robbed, and another man who is assumed to be gay, walking down the street being beaten and robbed. Both of those crimes are hateful, but the second one is a hate crime because the man was targeted for a specific reason. Were it not for the fact that he was assumed to be gay he may never have been robbed at all.

Now comes word that the Seattle Police are looking for the vandals who wrote anti-gay slurs on the home of a gay couple. The victims told the police they'd come home several times to find homosexual 'tags' on their home; they would paint over the graffiti almost immediately. Their home had been vandalized three times in four days, once in broad daylight. In addition to the vandalism, the victims, who choose to remain anonymous, say that someone threw something over their fence and poisoned their dog.

But what was it that was written on their home?

Fags rape kids.

So, you see, while this crime is also hateful, the victims are targeted because of their sexual orientation.

It's hate, pure and simple.