Iowa Senate passes law granting hate crime protections based on gender identity
A divisive party line vote of 27-21 in the Iowa Senate added
gender self-identity or "expression" to an anti-discrimination hate
crimes list.
The legislation punishes
the offender with financial penalties for "injunctive relief, general and
special damages, reasonable attorneys fees, and costs."
The bill also criminalizes any offense against someone because
of his or her association with a transgender or transsexual individual.
"When states like Iowa attempt to add gender identity and
gender expression to its Hate Crime statutes, it only demonstrates that lunacy
prevails in the secular progressive movement," Jen Wozniak of the
American Family Association (AFA) told
LifeSiteNews in an email. "The sexual anarchists among us insist
that there is no difference between male and female, and they also insist we
agree with them – or else."
All 26 Democrats voted for the bill, with Republican Sen.
Charles Schneider (West Des Moines) joining the Democrats in voting
"yes."
The bill has yet to be voted on in the Republican-controlled
House, where it may not have time to be considered before a key legislative
deadline Friday.
"Christians should certainly be compassionate towards those
who are confused or otherwise struggling over their sexual or gender identity.
But other people have rights too," Ms. Wozniak commented.
"For example, many parents and many students prefer that someone
born male not be allowed to undress around girls. That isn’t hate."
Republican Sen. Mark Chelgren unsuccessfully tried to amend the
bill so it prohibited a hate crime against anyone, saying all Iowans should be
treated equally. "We should not be picking who is hated and who is
not hated," Chelgren stated.
GOP Sen. Jake Chapman unsuccessfully attempted to add “unborn
persons” to the list of the protected. Openly homosexual Sen. Matt McCoy
stopped Chapman's amendment, convincing Senate president Pam Jochum that it
wasn't relevant to the bill.
"I am saddened that this body has failed in its most basic
responsibility:…a right to life," Chapman said, according to the Des
Moines Register.
"It is a travesty for anyone to be violently victimized,
regardless of the motivation for the crime," Ms. Wozniak explained. "But
hate crime laws are generally superfluous. There are stiff penalties for
violent crime in every state in the U.S."
"Presumably, it is also insulting to victims of violence
who don’t fall into these preferred categories," the AFA spokeswoman
noted. "Is it worse for a transgendered individual to be beaten in a
dark alley than for a person who is not sexually confused?"
"These Hate Crime laws are commonly a solution looking for
a problem," the pro-marriage and pro-family leader charged.
"While there are individual cases of transgendered or homosexual
people being targeted, they represent a tiny sliver of a fraction of violent
crime overall."
The liberal clergy group Interfaith Alliance of Iowa released a
statement supporting the legislation.
To date, more than 15 states have included gender self-identity
in their hate crime laws.
"There is no proof that hate crime laws serve to deter the
violent individuals who prey on society," Ms. Wozniak concluded.
