Thought and Action: Why the former can’t be punished

Last January, my boyfriend and I were assaulted outside a friend's apartment in Towson, Md.

It was a frigid night, and Erich and I were holding hands as we walked down a service road towards Townsontown Blvd., preparing to cross.

We were standing at the intersection when we noticed a silver sedan speeding up along Towsontown. As the car approached us, the driver's side window rolled down as the driver yelled, "Look at those f-ing faggots holding hands!"

The vehicle veered into our lane, in the opposite direction of traffic, speeding up to hit us. I pulled Erich onto the curb. The car missed him by less than two feet.

The vehicle slammed to a stop just a few yards from us, and the driver and two passengers yelled a few more colorful epithets before the car sped in reverse to make a second attempt.

By then Erich and I were safely on a grassy knoll. The driver, realizing we were out of reach, again slammed on the breaks and tore down the service road along which we had just been walking.

The car's three occupants were apprehended the next morning by police.

Neither Erich nor I were hurt. The police responded immediately, and the investigation was swift. The assistant state's attorney charged with our case was extraordinarily supportive. The driver and passengers pled out of court and were given fair penalties. We were very lucky.

On the day of the court hearing, the driver asked to meet with Erich and me before he pled guilty (with all representing attorneys present, of course).

The driver was shorter than I recalled, and thoroughly anxious. He apologized sincerely and explained that he was drunk; he and his friends were coming home late from a concert; and he acted like an idiot.

Then he said something to the effect of, "You know I really don't have anything against-" a tear trickled from his eye as he searched for the word, "-gays."

My response to him was something to this effect, "I honestly don't care how you feel about gay people." A stunned expression flickered across his face. I read in his file he had taken LGBT sensitivity classes as a part of his non-court mandated penance.

"What does worry me is your trying to hit people with a car—for any reason." He nodded. We shook hands. He pled guilty before the judge and was sentenced under the conditions of his terms with the state's attorney office. All in all, it was a good day.

What am I getting at?

Plenty of people will tell you hate crimes legislation is necessary to prevent and punish crimes committed against people out of bigotry.

The reality, however, is that crimes are committed, and punished, regardless of what the person was thinking when the crime was committed.

Hate crimes legislation, though often well intended, serves no other purpose than to punish what people think. Effective laws that are based on reason punish the action, not what was going through the person's head.

Moreover, a crime committed against someone is a crime regardless of the cause. Hate crimes legislation serves to create different classes of citizens with different protections.

Whether the driver of that car tried to hit Erich and I because he was bigoted or because he was drunk doesn't really matter. Assault is assault regardless of the reasons.

I simply ask readers to consider the true nature of hate crimes legislation, in light of the double standard it creates in our justice system and in its effects.

As Erich and I will tell you, we don't need the law to treat us differently. We just want to be treated equally.