Rep. Virginia Foxx Calls Matthew Shepard's Hate Motivated Murder "A Hoax"
Christian Church
May 04, 2009
Washington – During a debate on hate crimes legislation taking place last week in the well of the United States House of Representatives, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) claimed that Matthew Shepard's murder and torture were "a hoax."
While Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard looked on from above in the House gallery, Foxx, who managed the floor for those opposed to the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, spoke saying, "The hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard Bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that the young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. The bill was named for him … but it's really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."
"Vile lies, like the one spread by Rep. Foxx on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about Matthew's brutal hate-fueled murder, continues to underscore how extreme anti-LGBT opponents have become," said Brad Luna, Communications Director for the Human Rights Campaign. "It is no longer acceptable in this day and age to just come right out and say you don't like gay people. Instead, extremist opponents of equality must resort to these types of malicious and twisted lies. Rep. Foxx should be ashamed of herself."
On the night of October 7, 1998, two men took Matthew Shepard to a remote area east of Laramie, Wyoming where they engaged in unimaginable acts of hate and torture, killing the 21-year-old college student only because he was gay. This hate-motivated murder sparked a national outcry to expand hate crimes laws to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The perpetrators of this heinous act, Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney, are now both serving life sentences for Shepard's death. During the trial, the pair's then-girlfriends both testified under oath that the two men plotted beforehand to target a gay man.
Republicans in Congress oppose the bill while Democrats in Congress support the measure. Media Matters for America has posted a video of Rep. Foxx's remarks with background information. To view the video and read the related information visit MediaMatters Action Network.
Contact Rep. Foxx
Supporters of the legislation are asking decent law-and-order Americans to contact Rep. Virginia Foxx at one of the phone numbers below to express their outrage over her comments:
Washington, DC Office: (202) 225-2071
Clemmons, NC Office: (336) 778-0211
Boon, NC Office: (828) 265-0240
Hate Crime Statistics
Because no federal law exists mandating that states and municipalities report hate crimes, they are underreported. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's own statistics, based on voluntary reporting, show that since 1991 over 100,000 hate crime offenses have been reported to the FBI, with 7,624 reported in 2007, the FBI's most recent reporting period. Violent crimes based on sexual orientation constituted 16.6% of all hate crimes in 2007, with 1,265 reported for the year. In addition, while not captured in the federal statistics, transgender Americans too often live in fear of violence.
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) provides the Justice Department with the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived national origin, gender, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It gives the Justice Department the ability to aid state and local jurisdictions either by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of violent crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury that were motivated by bias. It also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes.
A wide coalition of national organizations has called for the passage of the LLEHCPA legislation. Some of those organizations supporting this legislation include: International Association of Chiefs of Police; the National Sheriffs Association; 26 state Attorneys General; the National District Attorneys Association; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; the Anti-Defamation League; the NAACP; the Presbyterian Church; the Episcopal Church; and the National Disability Rights Network.
Foxx's Comments Called another Reason to Leave the Republican Party
Virginia Foxx's comments come at a time when Republican Party membership continues to decline dramatically nationwide. The GOP is already under fire for abandoning its fiscally conservative roots (and fiscally conservative members) at the expense of embracing intolerance and bigotry simply to placate loud-mouthed religious fundamentalists and Right-Wing extremists who have now become the bulk of the party.
With the legacy of George W. Bush's failed presidency haunting the GOP and the skyrocketing approval ratings of President Barack Obama, less than 20% of the American people now identify themselves as Republican. Conversely, over 80% of Americans identify themselves as Democrats or Independents. This does not bode well for the GOP. A total of 34 out of the 100 U.S. Senate seats will be contested in 2010, the majority of them Republican. Just last year, during the 2008 "sea-change" election, Democrats gained an enormous 8 seats in the U.S. Senate, not including the Minnesota seat still expected to be won by Democrat Al Frankin. Democrats now hold a super majority in the Senate and a whopping 257 to 178 seats in the House. Every House seat will be contested in 2010 and every Independent member of Congress caucuses and votes with the Democrats.
Critics charge that Virginia Foxx's mean comments are indicative of a corrupt, dinosaur party "out of touch" with mainstream America. In recent weeks – while "no taxation" tea parties clamored for new and visionary leadership in the GOP – former House Speaker Newt Gingrich made headlines by warning that Republicans would leave the GOP en masse to form a third party in 2012 if the current direction continues.
Gingrich is not alone in his dissatisfaction with the party. Conservative South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford recently grieved about the GOP wallowing in "disarray" because it has, among other things, abandoned its fiscally conservative values in exchange for adopting extremist social views. In fact, many GOP watchers were not at all surprised when U.S. Senator Arlen Specter abandoned the Republican Party last week to join with the Democrats "who are more in line with his political views." Political pundits quickly speculated that many of the remaining moderate Republicans in Congress will soon follow suit, including Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Christopher Shays (CT), Mary Bono (R-CA), and George Voinovich (R-OH), to name a few. These likely desertions are the primary reason for the current desperate attempt by several in the GOP to rebrand its tarnished image.
But the task to redefine the "Party of Intolerance" will be difficult. In states like Maryland, where GOP Chairman Michael Steele served as Lt. Governor just a couple of years ago, the defeat of moderate incumbent Wayne Gilchrist last fall signaled the death of the Republican party in every state like Maryland with well-educated populations.
With no source in sight to replenish its stagnant and evaporating vestiges, the GOP will likely whither – not just because the party has no leadership, but because stagnant waters can be deep. For Foxx's comments are not only callous and ignorant, they are representative of a political party corrosively in trouble with many of its members and the majority of American people, who care more about the poor, education, health care, and the economy than they do about marginalizing their gay relatives from society.
So will the Republican Party continue to wander in the wilderness with no direction, no common sense, and no connection with the majority of Americans? Will the Republican Party continue to subscribe to the politics of hate, violence, and discrimination? Well, no one is at bat right now for the team – with the exception of a few cancerous GOP icons such as, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Ann Coulter (who called presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot").
Yes, Congresswoman Foxx, you are still not alone in the dwindling GOP. Your comments last week in the People's House make clear that the Republican Party has become a malicious, hateful coalition of just a few very rich people and too many bigots. Nothing more.
How sad for you. How sad for Matthew Shepard's mom. And how sad for the American people.
To take action to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, please visit FightHateNow.org.
While Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard looked on from above in the House gallery, Foxx, who managed the floor for those opposed to the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, spoke saying, "The hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard Bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that the young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. The bill was named for him … but it's really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."
"Vile lies, like the one spread by Rep. Foxx on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about Matthew's brutal hate-fueled murder, continues to underscore how extreme anti-LGBT opponents have become," said Brad Luna, Communications Director for the Human Rights Campaign. "It is no longer acceptable in this day and age to just come right out and say you don't like gay people. Instead, extremist opponents of equality must resort to these types of malicious and twisted lies. Rep. Foxx should be ashamed of herself."
On the night of October 7, 1998, two men took Matthew Shepard to a remote area east of Laramie, Wyoming where they engaged in unimaginable acts of hate and torture, killing the 21-year-old college student only because he was gay. This hate-motivated murder sparked a national outcry to expand hate crimes laws to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The perpetrators of this heinous act, Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney, are now both serving life sentences for Shepard's death. During the trial, the pair's then-girlfriends both testified under oath that the two men plotted beforehand to target a gay man.
Republicans in Congress oppose the bill while Democrats in Congress support the measure. Media Matters for America has posted a video of Rep. Foxx's remarks with background information. To view the video and read the related information visit MediaMatters Action Network.
Contact Rep. Foxx
Supporters of the legislation are asking decent law-and-order Americans to contact Rep. Virginia Foxx at one of the phone numbers below to express their outrage over her comments:
Washington, DC Office: (202) 225-2071
Clemmons, NC Office: (336) 778-0211
Boon, NC Office: (828) 265-0240
Hate Crime Statistics
Because no federal law exists mandating that states and municipalities report hate crimes, they are underreported. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's own statistics, based on voluntary reporting, show that since 1991 over 100,000 hate crime offenses have been reported to the FBI, with 7,624 reported in 2007, the FBI's most recent reporting period. Violent crimes based on sexual orientation constituted 16.6% of all hate crimes in 2007, with 1,265 reported for the year. In addition, while not captured in the federal statistics, transgender Americans too often live in fear of violence.
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) provides the Justice Department with the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived national origin, gender, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It gives the Justice Department the ability to aid state and local jurisdictions either by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of violent crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury that were motivated by bias. It also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes.
A wide coalition of national organizations has called for the passage of the LLEHCPA legislation. Some of those organizations supporting this legislation include: International Association of Chiefs of Police; the National Sheriffs Association; 26 state Attorneys General; the National District Attorneys Association; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; the Anti-Defamation League; the NAACP; the Presbyterian Church; the Episcopal Church; and the National Disability Rights Network.
Foxx's Comments Called another Reason to Leave the Republican Party
Virginia Foxx's comments come at a time when Republican Party membership continues to decline dramatically nationwide. The GOP is already under fire for abandoning its fiscally conservative roots (and fiscally conservative members) at the expense of embracing intolerance and bigotry simply to placate loud-mouthed religious fundamentalists and Right-Wing extremists who have now become the bulk of the party.
With the legacy of George W. Bush's failed presidency haunting the GOP and the skyrocketing approval ratings of President Barack Obama, less than 20% of the American people now identify themselves as Republican. Conversely, over 80% of Americans identify themselves as Democrats or Independents. This does not bode well for the GOP. A total of 34 out of the 100 U.S. Senate seats will be contested in 2010, the majority of them Republican. Just last year, during the 2008 "sea-change" election, Democrats gained an enormous 8 seats in the U.S. Senate, not including the Minnesota seat still expected to be won by Democrat Al Frankin. Democrats now hold a super majority in the Senate and a whopping 257 to 178 seats in the House. Every House seat will be contested in 2010 and every Independent member of Congress caucuses and votes with the Democrats.
Critics charge that Virginia Foxx's mean comments are indicative of a corrupt, dinosaur party "out of touch" with mainstream America. In recent weeks – while "no taxation" tea parties clamored for new and visionary leadership in the GOP – former House Speaker Newt Gingrich made headlines by warning that Republicans would leave the GOP en masse to form a third party in 2012 if the current direction continues.
Gingrich is not alone in his dissatisfaction with the party. Conservative South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford recently grieved about the GOP wallowing in "disarray" because it has, among other things, abandoned its fiscally conservative values in exchange for adopting extremist social views. In fact, many GOP watchers were not at all surprised when U.S. Senator Arlen Specter abandoned the Republican Party last week to join with the Democrats "who are more in line with his political views." Political pundits quickly speculated that many of the remaining moderate Republicans in Congress will soon follow suit, including Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Christopher Shays (CT), Mary Bono (R-CA), and George Voinovich (R-OH), to name a few. These likely desertions are the primary reason for the current desperate attempt by several in the GOP to rebrand its tarnished image.
But the task to redefine the "Party of Intolerance" will be difficult. In states like Maryland, where GOP Chairman Michael Steele served as Lt. Governor just a couple of years ago, the defeat of moderate incumbent Wayne Gilchrist last fall signaled the death of the Republican party in every state like Maryland with well-educated populations.
With no source in sight to replenish its stagnant and evaporating vestiges, the GOP will likely whither – not just because the party has no leadership, but because stagnant waters can be deep. For Foxx's comments are not only callous and ignorant, they are representative of a political party corrosively in trouble with many of its members and the majority of American people, who care more about the poor, education, health care, and the economy than they do about marginalizing their gay relatives from society.
So will the Republican Party continue to wander in the wilderness with no direction, no common sense, and no connection with the majority of Americans? Will the Republican Party continue to subscribe to the politics of hate, violence, and discrimination? Well, no one is at bat right now for the team – with the exception of a few cancerous GOP icons such as, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Ann Coulter (who called presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot").
Yes, Congresswoman Foxx, you are still not alone in the dwindling GOP. Your comments last week in the People's House make clear that the Republican Party has become a malicious, hateful coalition of just a few very rich people and too many bigots. Nothing more.
How sad for you. How sad for Matthew Shepard's mom. And how sad for the American people.
To take action to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, please visit FightHateNow.org.