"Every time some scum rips off an old ladies purse they should also be charged with a hate crime."
Technically, they could be, as long as they robbed her because of her gender.
I think these sorts of laws are bad laws because they penalize motive rather than behavior, and it's often impossible to determine motive.
That said, they don't protect gay people any more than straight people. Everyone has a sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity. If you're attacked because of it, these laws apply to you.
How would you rank this episode on the hate crime scale:
A school teacher entered the parking garage of a shopping mall and was held up at gunpoint by 2 predators who were cruising the parking garage looking for someone to rob.
He was a well-loved private boys' school teacher of thirty years teaching experience. And I imagine instead of just handing over his wallet, or while he was handing over his wallet, he might have said something along the lines of "do you really want to ruin your life by doing this?" Whatever he said, the perp with the shotgun considered that he had been dissed and blew him away at point blank range.
The driver has just had his trial and was acquitted of first degree murder because the jury did not want to put an 18 yr old away for life! The jury agreed that the perp was guilty of what qualified him for first degree murder. So it was pure jury nullification.
I say that the beloved schoolteacher was shot because of hate. Will "hate" ever be charged against a black 'disadvantaged' yout'?