The Gay Thread

[Nephythys]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

So what about the fear I felt when Matthew Shepard was murdered vs. the totally didn't feel a thing when Matilda Himmelfarb was murdered.

Never heard of Matilda Himmelfarb? Exactly.

Matilda was murdered for her money. Matthew was murdered because he was gay. I suppose "hate crimes" is a poor term because, you are right, almost all crimes have an element of hatred. And Gemini Cricket is right that terrorism has been too watered down, but that's why the punishments are enhanced. Because what we are calling "hate crimes" are literally terrorism.

We can all feel fear of some sort of crime-

Maybe women are more impacted by fear of rape and murder.
Mothers may fear someone killing their children.

We may feel impact and fear based on our similarities to a victim-but punishment should not be meted out based on the fear impact on others- it should be based on the crime.