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JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
Friday, May 09, 2008
D.C. City Council on Tuesday considered a resolution taking a public stand against hate crimes at the behest of local gay activist Peter Rosenstein.
It states that acts of hate “will not be tolerated in the District” and cites 75 hate crimes reported in the city during the last two years. In introductory remarks at a briefing Monday, Council Chair Vince Gray said of the 57 hate crimes reported in 2006 (the most recent year for which the FBI has numbers available), 36 were based on sexual orientation. The resolution isn’t gay specific and mentions racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and ethnic bigotry in its language.
In 1989, Council passed the Bias-Crimes Act, which was signed into law shortly thereafter and includes sexual orientation. It’s one of the most far-reaching and comprehensive hate crime statutes in the country, according to police.
Under that statute, a person found guilty of committing a designated act with a bias-related motive is subject to a prison term and/or fine that is 1.5 times higher than the maximum that could ordinarily be imposed.
Rosenstein said despite the existence of the earlier law, he felt Council should give formal attention to hate crimes.
“Yes, we have hate crimes legislation on the books,” Rosenstein said, “but the last few times we’ve had these kinds of crimes, no one has really spoken out about them and after the initial reports you never really hear what happened. I thought it was time for Council to speak out and bring more attention to what’s going on … if we don’t educate ourselves and our children, this kind of thing will continue.”
A January incident, Rosenstein said, in which anti-gay graffiti was scrawled in a bathroom stall at the Fifth District police station, inspired the resolution. Calling the measure “symbolic,” he said it will have no practical impact on the 1989 law, but is still important for Council to consider.
In March, Council passed and Mayor Adrian Fenty signed an amendment to the 1989 law that adds gender identity and expression to the protected classes. Introduced by gay Councilman Jim Graham, the “Prohibition of Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Expression Amendment Act of 2008” was presented to Congress for review in April. If Congress takes no action, it will automatically become law in July.
Council will likely vote on Rosenstein’s “Sense of the Council in Opposition to Acts of Hate Resolution of 2008” in June. It’s expected to have unanimous support.
Several gay Washingtonians worked on the resolution including Lee Brian Reba, Gray’s deputy chief of staff; Rosenstein; Jeff Marootian, vice president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club; and Bob Summersgill, former president of the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance.
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