by Merideth Sipula
Before I go into further detail about the article and other things I wanted to inform you about, I’m going to express my view on the topic. In a scientific point of view, which is how I look at most things, as a future science teacher, I do believe that there is a “gay gene,” and therefore homosexuality is not a choice. I also believe that it is a natural thing that has been seen in the wild. In fact, homosexuality has been observed in over 1,500 species. And in some species, like giraffes, homosexuality is more common than heterosexuality. I could go on, but I’ll make that the end of my science lesson for the day.
As a citizen, and someone who cares about the happiness of others, I am for equal rights for gays, especially adoption rights. There are so many children out there who need homes and loving parents, and that means a mom and a dad, or a mom and a mom, or a dad and a dad, so long as they are qualified. I am also for gay marriage because really, if two people, two citizens, love each other, then who’s to stop them from having the same rights as heterosexual married couples who love each other. Does any one stop heterosexual couples from getting married even if they’ve only known each other for a month, and are only destined to contribute to the high divorce rate? No. (Well, except maybe a priest if they want to get married in a church.)
And just as a human, I am for tolerance of overall human differences. Because in the end, we’re all made up of the same key biological ingredients (don’t worry, there’s no science lesson here), we’re all capable of having emotions, and reasoning, and loving. And if that means a man loving another man, or a woman loving another woman, then so be it.
And the article I read last weekend (see link below) deals with just that: human tolerance. The article is about a student at nearby Stetson University who is gay and found hateful words etched into his door, and then later found “death to fag” written on the dorm laundry room wall. The student didn’t feel safe anymore and ultimately decided to leave the school and Florida to move back up north where he’s from. An official from the school said that “although the school doesn’t condone hate words in any way, there was no rule condemning it.”
What really caught my eye in the article was that the student decided to take matters in to his own hands and contacted Judy Shepherd, the mother of Matthew Shepard, and asked her to come speak to the school about tolerance. For those of you who don’t know, Matthew Shepard was a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming (political science major) who was killed for being gay. Two men posed as being gay at a bar and offered Shepard a ride in their car, where he was robbed, pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence in a remote, rural area, and left to die. He was discovered eighteen hours later by a cyclist who first thought Shepard was a scarecrow. He was in a coma, never to regain consciousness, and remained on full life support until October 12, 1998 when he died.
Since then, his story has become an eye opener for the need for stricter hate-crime laws, and on March 20, 2007 the Matthew Shepard Act was introduced (officially known as Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007). The federal bill would expand the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The bill would also provide $10 million in funding for 2008 and 2009 to help State and local agencies investigate and persecute hate crimes. It would also remove the limitation of federal involvement under the existing law that the victim of a bias-motivated crime must be attacked while engaging in a specified federally-protected activity, like voting, attending school, or serving on a jury.
The bill passed in the House in May 2007 and in the Senate in September 2007 as an amendment to the Senate Defense Reauthorization bill, and was approved by voice vote. However, surprise surprise, President Bush has indicated he may veto the Defense Reauthorization bill if it reaches his desk with the hate crimes legislation attached.
Though fortunately the student at Stetson was able to escape a threatening situation, the fact of the matter is that it will be 10 years this year since the hate-crime against Matthew Shepherd, and there still has not been a stricter law implemented. With 73% of Americans supporting hate crimes legislation that includes sexual orientation (2001 poll), it’s obvious that the people have spoken. I just hope when the time comes for Bush to sign that bill, he’ll listen.
Links:
http://www.wesh.com/news/15036203/detail.html?rss=orl&psp=news (article)
