March 16, 2009

Proposition 8, License to Gay-Bash: Anti-Gay Hate Crimes Soar in Santa Clara County

We’ll get to the main story in a moment. First, and one more time (but it won’t be the last): “Anti-Gay Marriage Amendments Lead to Anti-Gay Violence.” Or, hell, just glance through a scant handful of the posts in our Hate Crimes category just since last fall…

• Video: Bakersfield School Official Attacks No On 8 Supporter 10/27/08
• Video: Marysville Couple’s Property Defaced… 10/27/08
• Oakland: More Anti-Gay Violence from Yes On 8… 10/28/08
• Torrance: Accused “Yes On 8? Gay-Basher Pleads Not Guilty 10/31/08
• Sacto: Man Accused of Trying to Run Down Demonstrators… 11/2/08
• Nice Bunch at MormonApologetics… (Death Threats) 11/13/08
• More on Death Threats to Gloria Nieto 11/17/08
• Richmond Lesbian Gang-Raped for 45 Minutes 12/20/08

Surge in anti-gay hate crime cases

Hate crime cases involving anti-gay sentiment shot up in Santa Clara County last year, a striking increase that a leading prosecutor attributes to controversy over Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on gay marriage. …

(Don’t miss the snotty remark by play-the-victim-to-the-hilt bad actor and all-around slimeball Frank Schubert: “I certainly hope Proposition 8 did not result in more crime. But if it did, it did so on both sides.” Yeah? Show me, Frankie. Show me.)

Are you, like, surprised or anything? We’re not. And neither are these folks:

jaysays:

I previously speculated in a post (based on rough math) that after the passage of Proposition 8, a substantially higher number of hate crimes against LGBT people began to occur. …

So it seems the Religious Reich is claiming that the gays are beating people up again, even though there have only been two confirmed reports of gays “attacking” Proposition 8 supporters in California. Both of these claims were videotaped, involved only yelling and neither case resulted in physical bodily injury to the Proposition 8 supporters.

Regardless of whether the Court rules in favor of or against the validity of Proposition 8, the moment will be part of the long history of religion being used to abuse a minority class.

The Progressive Puppy:

A subset of tax-paying American citizens seeks the same rights and privileges as everybody else. They get trashed by conservative Christians (whose odious ~~advertising~~ fear mongering was disproportionately funded by out-of-state Mormons); and as a result of the hateful messaging put out by “Protect Marriage” and other groups, gays and lesbians not only remain disenfranchised, they get brutalized and murdered into the bargain.

These religious folks must be so proud of themselves.

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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