A few items seen among the news headlines on 365Gay.Com recently…

FBI: Gays Third Largest Hate Crimes Victim Group

Washington) New statistics show that hate crimes against gays and lesbians accounted for the third largest number of bias crimes in the country last year sparking a new push from LGBT rights groups for federal hate laws. 

Overall the number of reported hate crimes was down by six percent. Crimes against people based on their race accounted for more than half of the incidents.  Crimes based on religious bias were reported in 17 percent of the cases and attacks on members of the LGBT community came in third at 14.2 percent according to the FBI statistics.

The numbers are considered by many LGBT rights groups as low because not all gay victims report attacks on them for fearing of being outed publicly and because not all areas of the country track LGBT bias crimes.

In fact, whenever the issue of tracking these kinds of crimes comes up in the legislatures, it is reliably attacked by republicans and their religious right rubes as a prelude to an attack on their religious freedoms.  You know…like the god given right to walk up to a gay teenager and just punch them right in the face while they’re sitting peacefully on a trolley…

Good Samaritan Knifed Trying To Stop Gay Attack

(San Diego, California) A 50 year old man who came to the aid of a teenager being gay bashed on a San Diego Trolley was slashed with a knife.

Police say that the Trolley was traveling ;through the Encanto neighborhood when a man in his mid 30’s began making homophobic remarks to the teen.  The man then punched the young man in the face.

…not to mention that god given right to take a knife to anyone who interferes… 

When the older passenger attempted to intervene and prevent the teenager from further attack the assailant pulled a knife and slashed the 50 year old.

The attacker escaped when the Trolley made its next stop.

…or that god given right to prowl the gay ghettos looking for gay men to beat the crap out of, then rob, then rape.

SF Police To Step Up Patrols Following Homophobic Attacks In The Castro

San Francisco, California) A meeting Monday night between police and residents of San Francisco’s mostly LGBT Castro neighborhood brought a commitment that street patrols would be stepped up following a series of attacks.

About 100 residents attended the meeting, several telling personal stories.

Mark Welsh said he was attacked as he walked from work to his car 

"I was attacked from behind and hit in the back, neck and shoulder, which knocked me to the ground … As I fell to the ground, they proceeded to kick and punch throughout most of my body."

Throughout the beating and robbery Welsh said his attackers "kept calling me a faggot, many a time."

When they finished robbing him they sexually assaulted him.

Two other attacks fit the same pattern – beatings, robberies and then rapes.

And who but a satanist would want to deny the faithful and righteous the right to chase gay men into oncoming traffic and to their death…?

Murder Charges Laid In NYC Gay Attack

(New York City) The charges against two of the men accused of driving a gay Brooklyn man onto a busy highway where he was struck and killed have been formally upgraded to murder.  A third man is expected to face the same charge.

…

Police allege that Fox and Shurov posed as gay men, cruising an Internet chat room looking for a mark to rob.  They met Sandy online.

Chat messages between Sandy and the men were reportedly found on his home computer and a printout from his computer showing directions to Plum Beach, a popular cruising area, were found in his car.

Police allege that Sandy arranged to meet Fox on a street corner in Sheepshead Bay.  The two then drove the short distance to the beach where the other three were waiting.

When the gang began beating him Sandy bolted for the nearby Belt Parkway with his attackers in close pursuit.

They caught up with him in one lane of the highway and as Sandy broke free he was struck by a car, sustaining massive injuries.

The attackers were last seen rifling through Sandy’s pockets before fleeing.

For gay people to stand up and demand a stop to anti-gay violence, is to attack religious freedom.  At least, that’s what the Bush base is claiming.  Hate crime laws they insist, punish thought.  But if that’s the case then so do laws that protect anyone from discrimination on the basis of race or religion, because you can’t say it’s either one if the thinking is irrelevant.  Yes I said I wouldn’t serve them at my lunch counter…yes I’m a racist…but to enact laws against that is to punish me for what I think of people like that and that’s thought control…  No.  The problem isn’t that hate crime laws or anti-discrimination laws punish thought, but that they protect people who bigots believe down in their bones they have every right to beat the living crap out of whenever they damn well please.  It isn’t Who the hell are you to tell me what to think, but Who the hell are you to treat those people as if they’re my equals.

If we don’t bleed, they’re not righteous.  And so, we have to bleed.