Pennsylvania's New Hate Crime Statue

The state of Pennsylvania, known for its conservatism, has done an amazing thing. I still shake my head in wonderment.

The state legislature passed an amendment to an existing hate-crimes law. This amendment now protects not only gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, but also the transgendered. It does more too, and I'll get into it later. Only five states in the US protect the transgendered. Pennsylvania is now one of them.

I am proud to say I live in a state that truly cares about protecting its citizens.

Overview
In 1985, the legislature passed the Ethnic Intimidation Act. This law made any crime more serious if it involved prejudice toward actual or percieved race, color, religion or national origin. It bumped up the crime a bit, and some misdemeanors were made into felonies. The 2002 amendment, which took nine years to be bought to law, now includes actual or percieved ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity. It edited no provisons to the existing bill.

This bill was signed December 3rd by outgoing Governor Mark Schweiker (who, for a Republican, has done very well for Pennsylvania. I wish him luck in his new job as head of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce) and was immediatly made into law.

Activists, gay and straight fought hard to bring this to law. They knew they would have the support of Democrats in the State Assembly and Senate, they just needed the support of a few moderate Republicans. And they got it. They even got the support of a conservative Republican from York, PA, who changed his mind after a hate-filled letter sent to his office got his attention.

My Thoughts, Feelings, Observations

I'll admit it. Pennsylvania is known for its backwardness. It tries to be a part of the normally liberal Northeastern states, but in reality, it's culturally just an arm of the South, especially in its mid-section. Pennsylvania hosts more hate groups then Mississippi, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This is sad, especially since Pennsylvania was a state founded by Quakers, a religious sect based on tolerance and peace.

This is why I was shocked, almost to the point of tears, when I heard the news.

And then immediatly annoyed and dismayed at the specious arguments as to why the bill should be repealed. (That won't happen. . . we have a Democratic governor.)

The main argument centered around government intrusion into people's lives. No hate-crime bill nationwide does this. Hate-crime bills do not curtail free speech. Hate groups are free to spew their hate all they want at rallies and such, but the second that hate turns to violence, it is a crime. That is a fact.

There were other arguments, like hate-crime laws were a waste of paper, and hate crimes don't happen anymore in Pennsylvania, but they were pretty petty. There were also arguments that adding sexual orientation promotes that particular lifestyle and destroys the family. Again, the government is not supposed to legislate morality. And it is my belief that people who are of a particular sexual orientation are born that way. God made 'em that way from birth, just like He makes all of us in a certain way. That's just the way it is.

Americans have the right not to be fearful of violence just because of the way the religion they practice, the gender they are (or choose), the place of their origin and the way God made them. Americans have the right to live peacefully in a civilized society. And Pennsylvania made that step in securing those rights for ALL Pennsylvanians.

Again, I'm a proud Pennsylvanian, now.