FRC supports hate crimes.
11 Oct 1998

Fred:

Note what evil Gary Bauer's organisation said about "hate crime laws" in the paragraphs below. Totally evil. It almost is a declaration they support "special rights" for hate criminals. :(

Rod

WIRED STRATEGIES
Special Report: Gay Wyoming student clings to life
Saturday, October 10, 1998
1:30 a.m. EDT

This email contains:
* A brief update on the latest news surrounding the Matthew Shepard story.

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A Brief Update

At last report, Matthew Shepard remained in a coma, in critical condition, in Colorado - according to the hospital, he is on a ventilator. "They're not expecting him to ever wake up," friends say. His parents are to arrive this evening from Saudi Arabia.

His four accused attackers (two men), and accomplices (two women), were arraigned Friday in court, and remain in police custody. According to reports, the two males (one, a University of Wyoming student) befriended Shepard in a bar, told him they were gay, and lured him into their pick-up truck. Shepard was subsequently attacked in the truck, then dragged to a field where he was tied to a fence post spread-eagle, beaten and burned, then left to die. According to court documents, Shepard was "struck in the head with a pistol," and the suspects allegedly "beat him, while he begged for his life." According to one report, Shepard received a 2-inch deep gash in his head, crushing his skull. The temperature had dropped into the low 30s during the more than 12 hours Shepard was left outside. The males then met up with the two female accomplices, who helped them dispose of their now-bloody clothing.

Anti-gay epithets were reportedly used by the two young men who are accused of committing the crime, and friends say the attack was clearly an anti-gay hate crime. Efforts to pass hate-crime legislation in Wyoming have failed repeatedly because critics have said it would give gays "special rights." The conservative Family Research Council (FRC) -- which joined other religious right groups in announcing on Thursday a new round of anti-gay "ex-homosexual" TV ads -- released a statement Friday on Shepard's attack, echoing the arguments of previous hate crimes opponents. FRC said in their statement that "'Hate crimes' laws skew the legal system and afford unequal protection by design" and that such laws create a "special status." In contrast, Wyoming's Republican Governor, Jim Geringer, said he was "outraged and sickened" by the crime, and that the state needs to enact hate crime legislation.

"He's a small person with a big heart, mind and soul that someone tried to beat out of him," said Matthew Shepard's uncle, R.W. Eaton. "Right now, he's in God's hands."