New hate crimes bill stirs controversy

By Patricia Fifield
President Barack Obama signed a bill on Oct. 28 that extended federal hate crimes to protect those that are discriminated against because of gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. This bill, entitled the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the honor of the two hate crime victims, is hearing cheers and jeers from religious leaders.
Unitarian Universalism (UU) is one religion that supports the new hate crimes bill and also has an accepting stance on gay marriage. President of the UU Fellowship of Plattsburgh, Jo Ellen Miano, said that their faith is built upon a set of principles. “We affirm and promote the inherent dignity and worth of every person. We affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations. We affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all,” she said. The principles of the UU Fellowship are embedded with equality for everyone, which would suggest they support those of different sexual orientations and gender identities.
Chair of the Social Action Committee, Michelle Ouellette, said that as a whole, the Unitarian Universalist church has a history of supporting civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals. Ouellette said the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) celebrated the passage of the hate crimes bill signed by President Obama. Reverend William Sinkford, president of the UUA said, " ... I assure you that Unitarian Universalists will continue to advocate for full rights for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people. We stand on the side of love."
“In fact, more than a decade ago, in 1996, our denomination voted to advocate for marriage equity for same-sex couples,” said Ouellette. Currently the UU Fellowship of Plattsburgh is working with the social action committee to gain the status of a “Welcoming congregation.” To achieve this the church must provide religious education that incorporates LGBT life issues, welcome LGBT into the congregation, and establish contact with local LGBT groups and offer support for their cause. Ouellette said that they will be voting on the progression of these steps, but the support is great. “…My guess is that it will not be long before we gain full Welcoming Congregation status,” she said.
Although the UUA fully supports the new hate crimes bill including protection for LGBT, some religions do not. The Catholic Church usually tends to lean toward the side against homosexuality. When the hate crimes bill was passed, some feared that religious speech against homosexuality could be prosecuted as a hate crime. After several attempts to contact local Catholic churches the calls were never returned. “It doesn’t surprise me,” said Jamey Henricks of Plattsburgh, “they’re probably embarrassed to say what they really think,” he said. Henricks, a proud Gay and a humble Catholic, believes the Catholic Church does not want to admit their hatred for LGBT. “In my experience, most of the conservative ones really hate us,” he continued, “So I don’t see why they would support the hate crimes bill.”
Previous hate crimes laws allowed the Justice Department to prosecute crime motivated only by race, color, national origin, and religion. According to the FBI, there were 1,460 hate crime offenses based on sexual orientation in 2007, which is up from 1,415 in 2006.