Locals seek change in hate crimes against gay community

"In time our grandchildren will look at this time and we will be embarrassed because gay people are being harassed"

In time? Those are the words of an optimist. In time it is more likely to get worse. Gay people will never feel as safe walking down a street as a straight couple would.

I have to admit because of my age I don't know much... but I have seen alot.

In time it will most likely get worse.

Your comment is a bunch of rubbish. You choose to be gay just like whenever you got dressed this morning, you chose the clothes to put on. Gays don't deserve any special rights. Get over it. You're not special. You're just practicing sin. The devil has you so fooled. You need to seek the Lord's help. Should all people who have problems be given special treatment? For example, obese people? People with a speech impediment? The answer is no. God did not make you gay. You chose to be the way you are.

Gay people should have special rights....? It's truly amazing how any marginalized/minority group shoots themselves in the foot and alienates people who have previously supported them by going overboard and making ridiculous demands. I was politically active in the civil rights movement, but my interest waned when Affirmative Action arrived, as it represented exactly what we were trying to undo in this country: Racial privilege. When I heard about "reparations," I told my Black friends they were on their own. I used to give thousands of dollars every year to a charity that helped the Navajo people on their reservation. Then the Navajo filed suit against the tobacco companies and not wanting to offend them, my charity was directed elsewhere. A lot of that money came from tobacco. Anyone who has read my posts knows that I support total equality for gays and Lesbians. I want the govenment out of the marriage game altogether, registering only domestic couplings, heterosexual and homosexual alike. (A man and a woman get "married" in a church or synagogue.) Your post however, is clearly indicative that once again, my interest in what happens to people outside my demographic group is likely misplaced. Your post should be entitled "How to Alienate Your Supporters 101." First make all the demands you wish regarding equal right from the government as that is your right, but do not be so presumptuous as to expect religions to alter their views based upon political correctness. The Bible (both New and Old Testaments), Koran, and Talmudic Law are all quite clear in their judgement of homosexuality. Second, you will note that I said to speak up regarding your demand for EQUAL rights. Get this though your head - your sexual preference does not entitle you to special rights! Your life is no more valuable than mine. If someone assaults me, it is just as serious a crime as if someone assaults you. There are laws in place to demand justice for BOTH of us. If you're gay than be proud of who and what you are. Stop the snivelling about "Golly gee, I wish I was straight," get out there and bust your butt insuring that you have the same rights as I, but don't expect God to be politically correct or to obtain "endangered species" status from the government.

GUEST 6, COULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE GAY? NO, RIGHT? THEN HOW CAN YOU THINK PEOPLE CAN CHOOSE TO BE GAY? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! GET YOUR FACTS TOGETHER. WE HAVE FEELINGS TOWARD THE SAME SEX FROM A YOUNG AGE. WE FIGHT IT IN THE BEGINNING BECAUSE WE'RE AFRAID, BUT THEN WE REALIZE THIS IS WHO AND WHAT WE ARE AND WE BEGIN TO LOVE OURSELVES THE WAY WE ARE. WE LIVE DECENT LIVES. WE BELIEVE IN GOD, FAMILY AND OUR COUNTRY. JUST LIKE YOU DO. GET THE FACTS!

It is NOT a choice. No one chooses to be gay or straight. That is just plain ignorance talking.

I feel the same way. Harsher punishments all around, I don't want to be singled out for "hate crime" laws that essentially try to govern how people think. Anti-discrimination laws i'm all for but these are just redundant and silly.

In a few words, you put it in a nutshell. Crime is crime - regardless of color, orientation, or anything else.

You can make up all of the laws you want to and pass them into force by the basketload, but it will not change the way people think. Humans are humans and that's what the current and enforceable laws cover. New laws will make no difference. The majority of people still disagree with the gay lifestyle and that's just a simple fact. Perhaps if the gay community would stop shoving in in everyone's face to say, "Look at me, I'm GAY!" no one would even notice and leave them alone, that's the overall goal, right? Strategy...think strategy...

...won't be charged with murder or manslaughter? Gay people aren't protected under current law? We need new laws, so we can....what....add additional punishment because they're somehow sacred? Let me put it to you very simply: Your father's murderer deserves no greater punishment than the person who kills any straight person. The people who assaulted those two men in downtown deserve no more punishment than they would receive for assaulting any two straight men. To argue that an assailant who attacks a gay or Lesbian should be punished more severely than if that person attacked a heterosexual is a blatant attempt to establish gays and Lesbians as receiving greater importance and protection than straights. I'd suggest that you read the Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing "the equal protection of the laws."