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As you know, the House Republicans are bragging on their Web site
that they
killed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Now consider these recent events:
* A lesbian college student was attacked in Minnesota, after attending a
vigil for Matthew Shepard, by two men, one masked and armed with a knife.
One of her attackers was 5-foot-9, 225 pounds; the other was 5-foot-7, 190
pounds. Before they fled on foot, one told the woman: "You're a smart dyke.
Don't say anything to anyone." The woman, about 5-foot-7, was treated at
St. Cloud Hospital for a bruised right eye and cuts to her face and hands.
* Four men were brutally attacked recently in San Francisco by five men
who jumped out of a van yelling "fags" and "honey."
* Two gay men were shot dead in Guerneville, California recently just
after one man had repeatedly been harassed by a stranger.
* On October 15, UPI reports that a bisexual Cincinnati man was found
beaten and strangled in his home.
* Days before Matthew was attacked, a court in Hawaii sentenced the
murderer of a gay man to a simple misdemeanor offense, with a maximum
sentence of one year.
* On October 20, someone posted this message on my Matthew Shepard bulletin
board: "It's not too late to try and be STRAIGHT. Give up your homo
lifestyle or more fags will die and lesbians raped and impregnated and
forced to bear straight children. This is war against you homo perverts!!"
The Republicans in Congress say we aren't victims of hate, and need no
protection from people who want to kill the fags and rape the lesbians. If
you disagree, then do the following things:
- Call the US Congress switchboard at 202/224-3121, ask for you Senators
and House Member, and ask their office if they did or did not support the
Hate Crimes Prevention Act. If you don't know your House Member, visit this
Web site to find out http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Now remember: the cowards didn't even let the bill come up for debate, let
alone a vote. So there's no record of who voted for or against the bill,
since no vote happened. Therefore you need to be very firm and demand to
know whether they support this bill or not - i.e., will they vote for it in
the next Congress or not.
- Send letters-to-the-editor to your local paper immediately - either by
postal mail (look at your paper's editorial page for the address, and see
if you can fax it to them), or send it by email. You can find email
addresses for a lot of local papers at
http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist/.
- Print out this message, or copy and paste it into an email message, and
distribute it widely via email, on message boards, to colleagues,
coworkers, fellow church-goers, family, students, etc.
Get the latest on the Matthew Shepard anti-gay hate
crime case at the Matthew Shepard Online Resource center:
The site includes:
- latest news on the case
- action center to: email Congress; email Matthew's family; donate money
- info on anti-gay hate crimes
- photographs from the DC candlelight vigil - Oct. 14
- email subscription list
- email links to major and local newspapers
- links to other useful sites
- online bulletin board to share your views on the case
To subscribe to the email update list, visit
http://www.wiredstrategies.com/shepard.html and use the
easy online subscription form. Generally I only send one email
per day. This site is sponsored for free by Wired Strategies
Political Internet Consulting.
What's your opinion? We want to know!! Send a letter to the editor or fill out our reader survey!!
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Other Writings On Matthew Shepard:
Matthew Died For You and Me
-- By: Dr. Rembert Truluck
Silence Killed Matthew Shepard
-- By: The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston
Matthew Shepard Web Sites:
Matthew Shepard Tribute
Matthew Shepard Memorial Website
Candles For Matt
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