A U.S. House subcommittee is set to consider legislation Tuesday that would unleash the “thought police” and pave the way for future religious persecution.
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R. 1592) would grant sweeping -- and entirely subjective -- power and authority to the federal government to regulate the thoughts, words and actions of Americans, and would create special protections for gays. It would essentially create a “Federal Department of Thought Enforcement,” according to Matt Barber, policy director for Concerned Women for America.
On the Web site The Conservative Voice, Barber wrote: “This bill elevates the status of homosexuals (‘sexual orientation’) and gender confused cross-dressers (‘gender identity’) to a special and more valuable class of citizen based upon their chosen sexual behaviors and/or wardrobe.”
U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Va., said, "The law already protects everyone equally. What hate-crime legislation does, it begins to treat people unequally.”
If punishment for crime is too lenient, “we need to ratchet up the laws for everyone,” Forbes said, not just for crimes against homosexuals.
“It's fair to call it a Thought Crimes law,” said Caleb H. Price, social-research analyst for Focus on the Family. “Ultimately, it punishes those who hold politically incorrect thoughts and beliefs about homosexuality.”
A similar measure has been introduced in the U.S. Senate.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action.)
