Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels

federal hate crimes bill was passed in Congress in 2007 but President Bush vetoed the bill.
When the bill passed Congress on Oct 22 nd of 2009, President Obama signed it into law (Kennedy,
2008).
In a DVD titled Assault on Liberty: The Impact of Hate Crime Laws, Dr. Kennedy provides
evidence that “shows how hate crime laws have been used to silence Christians, while
providing special protection to homosexuals.” Opponents of hate crime laws argue that the
legislation leads to criminalizing speech that opposes the homosexual lifestyle. Current laws
punish behaviors while hate crime laws punish offenders for what they say. In 2004 11
Christians were arrested for committing a hate crime when they preached at a homosexual gaypride
event in Philadelphia. The defendants faced up to 47 years behind bars and $90,000 in
fines. In Canada a youth pastor was convicted of a hate speech law when he criticized
homosexual activists in a letter to the editor.
Matt Barber, Director for Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel, calls hate crime legislation
“Constitutionally dubious and dangerous to religious liberties and freedom of speech”and
“entirely unnecessary” (Kennedy, 2008).
Politics and Beyond
Politics involves the ability of interest groups to effect social and legal decisions in favor of
their preferred results. Out.com (2010) notes that “influential gays are becoming increasingly
more visible and more powerful”. The Power 50: The Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in
America were outed on their website. Four criteria were used to determine their choices,
including: political clout; pop-culture resonance; individual wealth; and current personal profile.
Descriptions of their first five choices are listed as follows:
1. David Giffen is a $4 billion Hollywood entertainment powerhouse . His money has bought
him influence over Democratic presidential politics and his name on UCLA’s medical school.
2. Anderson Cooper, as anchor of CNN News, pulls a $4 million salary.
3. Ellen DeGeneres hosts her own talk show that draws 2.3 million viewers on a daily basis.
This out and proud lesbian is reportedly worth $65 million.
4. Tim Gill is the country’s biggest gay political donor who made his fortune as founder of the
publishing software Quark.
5. Barney Frank, Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts, assumed chairmanship of the
House Committee on Financial Services when Democrats took control of the House and Senate.
Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010
Dr. M. L. Coppock
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