TX Hate Crimes Bill Dies
Nearly nine hours of closed-door negotiations and a Democratic filibuster on the Texas Senate floor on May 14 failed to advance a House-passed hate crimes bill including sexual orientation before a midnight deadline, killing it for the remainder of the two-year state legislative session. Democrats and Republicans are no more in agreement about what happened than they were about the bill itself, but Democrats have indicated that they won't be seeking vengeance in the remaining two weeks of the session. What made this struggle of national interest was Republican Gov. George W. Bush's Presidential aspirations, highlighted by both Democratic President Bill Clinton and Presidential hopeful Bill Bradley having both personally involved themselves in support of the Texas bill.
Bush denied on May 15 that he had any problem with the inclusion of sexual orientation in the bill, despite many pundits' sense that that issue would force him to choose between conservative support key to winning Presidential primary elections and middle-of-the-road appeal necessary for winning a general election. Bush maintained that his choice largely to stand apart from discussion of the measure reflected the conscience nature of the issue for his fellow Republicans. He and his spokesperson also said that in the last few days of the conflict, he and his staff had offered some suggestions towards breaking the partisan stalemate on the bill, although they provided no specifics and no lawmaker made any reference to any such occurrence. He charged that his Presidential ambitions were becoming a universal scapegoat for everyone with a failed bill.
Sen. David Sibley (R-Waco) told the Dallas Morning News that Republicans shared Democrats' disappointment at their inability to achieve a compromise on the hate crimes bill. "I don't think we disagreed. We just ran out of time," he said. Bill sponsor Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) was only barely accepting of defeat, still hinting that there could be a chance to get it through as an amendment to another measure. Failing that, he promised, "If it's too hot for you this session, don't worry, I'll be back."
The official position of Republican lawmakers was that they objected to the bill's naming of specific categories as a basis for bias motivation for crimes to receive harsher penalties. Some have also maintained that the existing Texas hate crimes law, which names no categories (as the result of a compromise over sexual orientation), should be adequate. But primarily because it does not name categories, the existing law has been deemed unenforceable, and has been called into play only twice in six years.
Democrats, however, pulled no punches in attributing the Republican blockage of the bill to its inclusion of sexual orientation and to preserving Bush from its potential for political fall-out. Texas Democratic Party Chair Molly Beth Malcolm said the state's citizens should be ashamed of Republican Senators prioritizing politics over people's safety and condemned Bush's failure to show leadership on the hate crimes issue. Sen. James Whitmire (D-Houston) said the blocking of the bill made for what might be "one of the worst days in the history of the Texas Senate," and charged that, "What we have here is a Presidential campaign taking place on the floor of the Senate." Whitmire said, "It all gets back to sexual orientation" and Republicans' "concern about elements in their party for whom this sort of thing is a political litmus test."
Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) said that James Byrd, Junior-the Jasper, Texas African-American murdered by white supremacists, in whose memory the hate crimes bill was named-"is probably turning in his grave tonight.... We have not done what we needed to do to protect our citizens." Before the Senate convened, most of Democratic Senators attended a prayer vigil being held in support of the bill in the Capitol rotunda, along with Byrd's nephew Darrell Verrett.
Even more irate were Gay and Lesbian activists. Lesbian and Gay Rights Lobby of Texas executive director Dianne Hardy-Garcia said, "Gov. Bush is to blame for this outcome. His unconscionable, immoral lack of leadership on this issue is both tragic and exasperating. The overwhelming majority of Texans-70%-solidly support strong hate crimes legislation. Yet he continues to do everything in his power to kill it. He has failed the citizens of Texas and the families of past and future hate crimes victims in the name of presidential politics." Reverend Michael Piazza of the Cathedral of Hope, the Dallas congregation of the Gay-affirming Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, said of Bush, "He wants the world to believe that he is a 'compassionate conservative.' We want the world to know that his compassion does not extend to all the citizens of Texas."
The American Jewish Congress issued a statement calling the failure to pass the bill an "horrendous mistake" and encouraging Bush to do "the right thing"-to use his power and ability to lead in the enactment of a hate crimes bill including sexual orientation. [from NewsPlanet]
Religious Right
Still Hounding American Airlines
In an open letter to American Air
lines shareholders, Peter
LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth, and Michael Johnston, president of Kerusso Ministries, said the carrier broke its promise to "refrain from open advocacy or endorsement of organizations with active political agendas." The pair said the airline is "committed to become `America's Homosexual Airline'" since it still funds several Gay groups, including the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Human Rights Campaign. The letter contends that former CEO Robert Crandall vowed in a 1998 meeting with religious conservatives to end the airline's support for Gay causes. However, officials for the company have insisted that no such promise was made and that the carrier remains committed to serving a broad market base. The letter, which was released for the annual shareholders' meeting, was packaged in an airsickness bag labeled, "What American Airlines is doing will make you SICK." [from Advocate]
