Hate Crimes Bill May Chill Religious Speech

House Bill 1319, also known as the Local Law Enforcement and Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, was recently reintroduced to the United State’s House of Representatives by Representative John Conyers (D-MI) and Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL).  This Bill was originally introduced as the Matthew Sheppard Act in 2007 in response to the murder of a homosexual male in an anti-gay hate crime that occurred in Wyoming. 

The Bill would expand the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”   The term “gender identity” is broadly defined within the Bill to include “actual or perceived gender-related characteristics” while the term “sexual orientation” is left undefined. 

Opponents of the Bill claim that such broad language could lead to the protection of up to thirty sexual orientations (as defined by the American Psychiatric Association), including behaviors such as bestiality and voyeurism which are illegal in most states.

Others, such as Representative Louie Gohmert, a Republican Congressman from Texas, oppose the Bill due to the fact that it could be used to intimidate and prosecute pastors and other persons of faith for expressing their moral and biblical concerns about homosexuality.  While an exemption for First Amendment speech is written into the Bill, it is unclear whether such a provision will be sufficient to overcome it’s chilling effect on religious speech. 

On Wednesday April 22, 2009, the Bill was heard by the House Committee of the Judiciary, but the final vote and markup was continued until this afternoon due to the Republican's overwhelming opposition to the Bill.  During the Wednesday meeting, the Democrats systematically voted down every amendment proposed by the Republicans. Should this Bill be passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is sure to become law.  The White House website already contains a specific endorsement of this bill stating that “President Obama and Vice President Biden will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation” and will “expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Sheppard Act.” 

This information is provided by Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a non-profit religious law firm dedicated to protecting religious liberty in the courts!  To help us in our ongoing battle for religious freedom, click here to donate to Advocates.