(Name-mce) ListServ Gay Hate Crimes, Civil Rights Protections Expected To Pass This Year

[Bill Howe]

*Gay Hate Crimes, Civil Rights Protections Expected To Pass This Year**
by The Associated Press*

Posted: February 24, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET

(Washington)  Anti-gay bias has flared up in Hollywood and pro basketball
recently, and soon the topic will be thrust dramatically into a new forum -
a reshaped Congress likely to pass the first major federal gay-rights bills.

Wary conservative leaders, as well as gay-rights advocates, share a belief
that at least two measures will win approval this year: a hate-crimes bill
that would cover offenses motivated by anti-gay bias, and a measure that
would outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Also on the table - although with more doubtful prospects - will be a
measure to be introduced Wednesday seeking repeal of the "don't ask, don't
tell" policy that bans openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the
military.

All three measures surfaced in previous sessions of Congress, at times
winning significant bipartisan backing but always falling short of final
passage. This year, with Democrats now in control and many Republicans
likely to join in support, the hate-crimes and workplace bills are widely
expected to prevail.

"With liberals in control, there's a good possibility they'll both pass,"
said Matt Barber, a policy director with the conservative group Concerned
Women for America. "They're both dangerous to freedom of conscience, to
religious liberties, to free speech."

If approved by Congress, the bills would head to the White House. Activists
on both the left and right are unsure whether President Bush would sign or
veto them.

For gay-rights leaders - whose efforts to legalize same-sex marriage have
been rebuffed by many states - the congressional votes are keenly
anticipated after years of lobbying.

"This is a major step in our struggle," said Joe Solmonese, president of the
Human Rights Campaign. "I know there's a lot of despair on the other side."

The workplace bill - titled the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA -
is the subject of behind-the-scenes negotiations. The bill that emerges is
expected to expand on earlier versions to cover not only sexual orientation
but also gender identity, thus extending protections to transgender
employees. Churches and small businesses would be exempt.

For many Americans, ENDA's provisions would be familiar. More than 85
percent of the Fortune 500 companies include sexual orientation in their
non-discrimination policies, as do 17 states and many local governments.

And publicly, there is increasingly little tolerance for overt anti-gay
bias. The National Basketball Association swiftly repudiated retired
all-star Tim Hardaway after he spoke this month of hating gays, while TV
actor Isaiah Washington apologized and sought counseling after using a gay
slur in reference to a fellow actor on "Grey's Anatomy."

Advocacy groups also say there have been huge strides in regard to
protections for transgender people - with nine states, scores of major
corporations and more than 70 colleges and universities now banning
discrimination based on gender identity.

California's ban, in effect since 2003, has not triggered a flood of
litigation, but it has prompted employers to proactively improve their
policies for dealing with transgender employees, said Shannon Minter, legal
director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

In past years, some congressional supporters of gay rights warned that
ENDA's prospects would be crippled by including protections for gender
identity. This year may be different.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said the version he is helping draft will indeed
cover transgender employees, while offering some allowances to employers so
they can enforce dress codes and minimize controversies over bathroom use.

"With the proper amendments, I think we can get it," said Frank, one of two
openly gay members of Congress.

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council,
contended that gay-rights groups exaggerated the extent of anti-gay bias as
part of a broader push to achieve their political goals.

"I'm sure there's probably a case here and there," Perkins said. "But I've
seen more discrimination of people of religious faith than I've seen of gay
people in the work force."

ENDA was first introduced in the 1994, and came within one vote of Senate
passage in 1996, while the hate-crimes bill has passed in the House and
Senate in separate years only to falter before final passage at the behest
of GOP conservatives.

The hate-crimes measure would expand existing federal provisions to include
acts of violence against gays and lesbians. Opponents contend it would be an
ominous first step toward criminalizing criticism of homosexuality.

"It's taking us to the point where anyone who opposes the sexual behavior of
homosexuals will be silenced," Perkins said.

According to the FBI, about 14 percent of the 7,163 hate crimes reported in
2005 targeted gays or lesbians - a slightly lower percentage than the two
prior years. Some activists, such as Riki Wilchins of the Gender Public
Advocacy Coalition, say there has been an increase of workplace complaints
filed by male employees, gay and straight, contending they were harassed by
fellow male workers who perceived them as effeminate.

Assuming ENDA and the hate-crimes bill win approval, but not by veto-proof
margins, Bush would face a politically sensitive decision of how to respond.

"Does he want to use one of his first vetoes to deny basic job protection to
people?" asked Dave Noble, public policy director for the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force.

Mat Staver of the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel worried that Bush
would not veto the bills, perhaps as a gesture of respect for Mary Cheney,
the lesbian daughter of Vice President Cheney.

However, Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America held out hope that Bush
would block the measures. "Hopefully," Barber said, "the president will show
that the veto pen is mightier than the politically correct sword."

*(c)365Gay.com 2007*


-- 
Bill Howe
http://www.billhowe.org

Multicultural Educators to China Summer 2007 Trip -
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Past-President
National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)
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