A 15-year-old from Portage Michigan was beaten by two other teenagers for being gay. According to a Chicago Tribune article, the two boys were charged as juveniles with aggravated assault and one of them has pleaded guilty. From the Tribune:
Although the victim's mother calls it a hate crime, officials say the closest thing under state statute -- an ethnic-intimidation law -- requires attacks to be motivated by race, color, religion, gender or national origin but not sexual orientation.
Lynette Rocha said Friday she will campaign to get the law changed following the attack on her son, Steven Harmon.
"I don't care what it takes or where I have to go," Rocha said, fighting back tears.
The boy said the teens who attacked him used gay slurs as they beat him, giving him a fractured cheek bone, two black eyes and other injuries on his head, face, and neck. The 15 and 16-year old attackers won't be charged with a hate crime because Michigan doesn't have hate-crime laws to protect LGBT people.
And some people are still arguing that hate crimes laws would infringe on their free practice of religion. No, hate crimes laws are not there to stop preachers from spewing hate from their pulpits. Hate crimes laws are there to stop our children from being terrorized like this kid was.
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