Why I left the stupid backward state of Idaho

"The reality is: hate crimes are crimes already."

Of course they are crimes. But, the really important thing that hate crime legislation would HOPEFULLY do is to try to prevent the crime from happening because of the harsher penalty imposed.

"The criminal act should be prosecuted, not the emotion of the perpetrator."

What if, by punishing the emotion of those who killed Matthew Shepard, a message was sent out to others who would do the same thing? What if it saved a life?

I just think that the impetus for committing a crime of hate (emotion) is fair game for punishment. People can believe what they will, but if they know that acting on that emotion and doing someone else harm will add to their crime, perhaps it will be a deterrent?

I fled Idaho ahead of the 2004 election, unable to take the massive support of the Bush administration even after its track record on the environment, civil rights, meritless war, and of course, the largest deficit in history.

Clearly I am preaching to the choir on this website. I would, however, take exception to your angle on hate crimes. I fear that "hate crimes" legislation is used a purely political tool. The reality is: hate crimes are crimes already. The impression that people are free to commit these crimes without the adoption of specific legislation is one that has been exploited widely, especially by conervative politicians who have found it to be an effective way to endear themselves with gay-rights supporters.

No crime is legal for lack of such legislation. If someone vandalizes property with racial slurs, or with their gang name, they commit the crime of vandalism.

Additionally, hate is a motive, not a crime. The criminal act should be prosecuted, not the emotion of the perpetrator. If judges had more power in sentencing, then the motivation could be taken into account at the sentencing stage, rather than the booking stage.

I worry that people are confusing political rhetoric with true support for gay-rights.

Point taken Mary. But, Idaho still doesn't have a hate crimes law (as you mentioned), even after what happened to Matthew Shepard. It's astonishing that something so horrific could happen to a young man, just one state away. You would think that would have a profound impact on the voters of the state to pass legislation against acts that are carried out specifically out of hate for one group or another.

Idaho still has a sodomy law on their books and have had ample time to get rid of it, but they won't. To be fair though, they do not distinguish between straight/gay couples, although I would bet money that sodomy laws are not enforced against straight couples as they would gay couples.

I've waited for a very long time for the educated fair-minded people of Idaho to vote the rascals out of office, but it never happens, which leads me to wonder how many fair minded individuals there are in the first place. Or, perhaps the fair minded educated people don't go to the voting booth?

I do have to give Idahoans a fair shake though in the way they responded to Fred Phelps group. That was encouraging (and somewhat surprising) to me.

All of this aside, I am absolutely certain that Idaho will vote totally against gay marriage and that the only way it will be overturned in say 50 years, is for the US Supreme Court to rule it unconstitutional, assuming that the Constitution hasn't been stripped of any meaning at that point. Idaho will never do it on it's own.

I feel that I defend my state too often, but here I go again. Idaho is a state of approximately 2 million people, of which 2/3 live in the Boise metro (tricounty) area. The majority of the state's population is intelligent and fair-minded. And let me point out that there are only 13 Democratic legislators in the legislature, almost all of whom come from the Boise valley or from Pocatello! It's the Republicans that are the problem.

Unfortunately, and much like other Western states with large, rural geographic areas, the majority of our state legislature is made up of a population that is much less less educated, and much less fair-minded than the state's general population. And then there are the religious zealots (like Henry Kulzyk), who have moved into the Boise suburbs. What has happened in the past when the farmer/housewife/Mormon legislators have seized on an issue like this is that there will eventually be an initiative to unravel the damage. The state's population, when asked to vote on initiatives, has consistently voted against hate legislation. If anyone can figure out how to rid our state of the Republican idiots in our legislature, I'd love to listen.