Gay Rep. Polis' (unbelievable) gaffe over federal hate crimes law (Matthew Shepard Act)

[keepCAblue]

From Petrelis Files blog:

http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2009/03/dallas-voice-gay-rep-polis-gaffe-over.html


Gay millionaire and former web entrepreneur Jared Polis, who was elected to Congress in November to represent Boulder, CO, caused a ruckus down in Texas recently with comments about gays and federal hate crime laws. Polis was addressing the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus when the issue came up.

John Wright, a reporter for the Dallas Voice, a widely-respected and award-winning gay newspaper, was present at the talk, taped it and has posted a transcript on the paper's site:

RANDY BROWN : Is Washington aware of the fact that people may get hurt? Because we might get hurt in the process of trying to just come out of the closet, just trying to help the process along. It’s a very, very frightening thing.

JARED POLIS: Have your local law enforcement agencies been helpful in offering you protection when you feel threatened?

BROWN: No.

POLIS: They haven’t?

BROWN: No.

POLIS: This is one of the reasons we have a federal hate crimes law, for that very reason. Sometimes in some conservative areas they don’t prosecute hate crimes, so we have on the books a law that allows the federal government to prosecute those if your local DA refuses to. So you might want to report it to your federal attorney general for your area if you feel threatened and the local authorities are not investigating or don’t seem to care. You can turn to the federal government for investigation of potential hate crimes.

BROWN: They generally throw hate crimes right out the court window.

POLIS: Well, that’s what your local, that’s what the state does, but I’m saying there is a federal recourse for that. That’s the very reason we did it.

*****AT THIS POINT, TEXAS STONEWALL PRESIDENT DAN GRANEY STANDS UP AND TELLS POLIS THAT THE MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT DIDN’T PASS.*****

POLIS: Oh, it didn’t pass? OK. So we still need to pass it? OK. So we’ll try to pass that one for you, too. But that’s why we need it. And of course Obama supports that, our Congress supports that, our Senate supports that. I thought we did pass it, so we will try to get that. But that’s exactly why we need it though, because in some of the areas where gays and lesbians do feel terrorized every day, the local authorities are in league with the forces of hate. And this would, when we pass it — thanks for pointing that out — give you recourse to go to the federal government to investigate hate crimes in your area, and that’s why it’s so important.

More at above link...

[dsc]

1. that is a pretty big gaffe

and is a symptom of a larger problem that many people think we already have the rights we are fighting for.

[NMMNG]

2. Propaganda is a large part of the problem

There's that incessant "gays already have equal rights they just want special rights" mantra that the RRRW keeps hawking. People hear that all the time and some fall prey to it. Even here we have people who believe we actually have things like federal hate crimes protections, that we can't get fired just for being gay, that we don't get refused housing for being gay, etc. Such is the power of the Big Lie perpetrated by the RRRW.

[dsc]

3. young gays are simply amazed when I tell what it was like growing up in the 1980's

and similarly our heads spin when we hear about the 1950's. Corporations give so many of the employment rights now that even sympathetic people think that is what all employers do.

[NMMNG]

6. Hence the need to keep teaching them

Never let anybody forget.

[bluedawg12]

4. The flip side of disinformation is the idea that there are already laws on the books

against assault or murder, why is there a need for "special federal laws?"

That's a favorite rw lie because it denies the inherent prejudice in local law enforcement agencies drawn from the very community that harbors bigotry.

Apparently, in this case, it wasn't just anyone who should have known better. Pathetic.

[NMMNG]

5. Indeed

Funny how the RRRW never denounces the "special federal laws" that protect them from hate-crimes based on their religion, race, national origin and other such things. They're always so silent about those. Only when the topic of adding us to the laws do they screech about "thought crimes" and other nonsense.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. "That's a favorite rw lie"

That's a favorite bullshit LIE thrown around on this site! I know you know this and I am not "blasting" you, I am just using your post as a jumping off point...the crap I see at this site when "hate crimes law" is brought up is enough to make one's blood run cold. I expect RW'ers to think "murder is murder," but when supposed liberal democrats (yes, I know all those here aren't liberals) claim "murder is murder," I just want to scream.

This is not directed at my friend bluedawg12, but rather to those who may stumble here and believe "murder is murder"...

Killing someone because you want his/her money, is murder.
Killing someone because you hate fags/dykes AND take their money, that is a HATE CRIME!

James Byrd, Jr. was NOT murdered because it was "just someone to kill," he was murdered for the COLOR OF HIS SKIN!
Matthew Shepherd was NOT murdered because he was an "easy target to take money," he was murdered for his SEXUAL ORIENTATION!
Teena Brandon was NOT murdered because it was a "rape gone bad," she was murdered because of her GENDER IDENTITY!

Those are the ones I remember because they are BURNED IN MY MIND! There are so many others, and to my own shame, I don't remember all their names, but I can see many of their faces.

BD12, I apologize for hijacking your post.

[keepCAblue]

8. Brandon Teena, not "Teena Brandon"... Brandon was a F2M transgender...n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Thank you! PWPO* not always a good thing.

*(posting while pissed off)

[Rowdyboy]

10. I've said worse PWPO....

And I didn't catch it when you called her Teena Brandon...thats what you get when PWDW.....(posting while drinking wine)

[xchrom]

11. kick