Word: genderism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Dark was the day that it ceased to be true that all crimes of equal magnitude were equally tragic, no matter the gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation of the victim, for that day also marked the transition from the tradition that crimes are an offense against society to the view that crimes are only an offense against the groups with whom the victim is associated. Ironically, this treatment of crime widens the chasms between groups rather than narrows them, for it actually perpetuates and legitimizes the belief that society is composed of compartmentalized groups instead of fundamentally similar individuals...
...should this compartmentalization extend only to gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation? Religion, which is covered under existing hate-crime legislation, is as much a choice as ideology, so why not protect the latter? Should political leanings be placed under the umbrella of hate-crimes protections? Should this aegis be extended to include Neo-Nazis and Klansmen? Why not include hatred based upon weight, height, hair color, state of origin, sports-team affliation, or any other demographic characteristic under hate-crimes protections...
...what constitutes a hate crime, including the highly questionable notion that the repugnance of a crime escalates due to the intangible, unquantifiable impact that it has upon those to whom the perpetrator did nothing. Proponents of hate-crimes legislation posit that crimes committed against individuals due to their gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation are particularly heinous due to the fact that they intimidate and offend all members of those groups. But all crimes, by their very nature, intimidate and offend more than just the victims, for crimes are affronts to society as a whole. Does a burglar not intimidate...
Above all, the passage of the hate-crimes law is essential to ensuring that all citizens feel protected under the law and that none should fear for their safety due to the color of their skin, the nature of their beliefs, or the gender of the person they love...
Given the importance of hate-crime legislation, the extension of hate-crime protection to include another vulnerable group is a positive step forward. Attacks on individuals explicitly based on their sexual orientation or gender identity have been well documented for some time now but were not legally recognized as a special class of crimes. It is only fair for the government to finally afford gays and lesbians the same legal protections that safeguard members of other frequently targeted groups...