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The Kyle Shook letter on Nov. 10 praised the Matthew Sheppard Act to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people under the "hate crimes" definition. The letter goes on to talk about name-calling and taunting.
That, agreed, should be dealt with in the schools, same as it would be for making fun of fat students. But the law is aimed at punishing people more severely if they commit a crime against someone who is covered. I don’t quite get it.
If my child is killed then the crime is less evil than if they are one of the protected groups? Whatever happened to equal justice under the law?
I am not sure now of all the protected groups. Maybe we should expand it to include anyone you hate, for any reason. Why not? Hate is hate, but it is not a bigger crime just because of it.
David Long
Gainesville