There is officially no federal hate crime protection for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in the United States. However, LGBT people are often times met with violence and hate from society at large. Sean Kennedy, a twenty year old from Greenville, South Carolina, learned this truth the hard way. Mr. Kennedy was punched in the face by an eighteen-year-old boy who was heard yelling homophobic slurs before he, ultimately, killed Mr. Kennedy. The death of Sean Kennedy has sparked a political interest in getting South Carolina to add violence against the LGBT community as a hate crime. Hate crime legislation would allow the judicial system to punish criminals who attacked LGBT people more harshly. Hate crime legislation would also grant victims, like Sean Kennedy, and their families proper justice
According to the Chicago Tribune the governor of Washington enacted a law that would grant same-sex partners some of the rights that are equated with marriage. These rights include hospital visitation, as well as, inheritance rights. Slowly but surely same-sex couples are gaining ground around the country.
The current governor and conservative legislators of Massachusetts are fighting to push through a state amendment to ban gay marriage, which, if approved, would appear on the state ballot in 2008. The measure still has to pass during the next legislative meeting. The governor-elect has vowed to fight to preserve the states progressive measure to grant gays and lesbians the right to marry. Massachusetts, at present, is the only state that grants marriage rights to LGBT people, while a few other states recognize civil unions. The conservatives pushing for the ban on gay marriage claim that their plight is not out of hatred or “vengeance,” but solely an opportunity for the people of Massachusetts to vote. No matter how the conservatives phrase their intentions, the intentions are negative and meant to strip the LGBT community of human rights granted to people in the United States.
November 29th, 2006
This past Tuesday a Virginia appellate court found in favor of upholding custody rights established through the civil union of two women in Vermont. Gay and Lesbians around the country celebrated the ruling, due to the fact that the lesbian relationship was treated by the VA court as equal to a heterosexual relationship. The biological mother was ordered to allow her ex-partner visitation rights. Conservatives who are pushing for the ban of gay marriage national, vowed to fight the ruling. Many people on both sides of the gay marriage issue are interested to see what debate this action may incur. The issue of recognizing civil-unions or gay marriages in states that have ban the practices is still a heated topic.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-lesbian29nov29,1,1630715.story
On November 18th, 2006 in Huston, Texas Howard Dean, chairman of the national Democratic party, spoke to a formidable group of Gay and Lesbian leaders on issues such as education and minimum wage. He noted that it was important to support the Democrats in separating the party from that of the Republicans. He also encouraged the queer community to be patient and expect policy change over time in relation to LGBT issues.
It seems fairly easy for a heterosexual politician to expect a community that has been discriminated against for years to be willing to wait for policy change. However, LGBT people have been “waiting” for centuries to be recognized and accepted as an equal people. While GLBT people “wait” for politicians to be ready to enact large social change, LGBT civil rights continue to be violated. While Howard Dean and the Democrats fight for better education and welfare reform, there appears to be no party left in the political arena to fight for civil marriage rights, property rights, domestic partnership rights, hospital visitation rights, and child custody rights. How long would Mr. Dean like the gay community to wait before they fight for equal rights?
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4345691.html