UPDATE 7/8/09:  The U.S. Senate may try to add the bill, already approved by the House, to a defense policy bill either this week or next.  It would expand federal hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

The U.S. House has already voted to approve this legislation, blocking any attempt to amend it.  Click here to see how your Congressman voted. (If your Congressman voted against it, please write a letter thanking him for this vote)

Download our new fact sheet on the "Pedophile Protection Act":

FactSheet-ThoughtCrimesBill.pdf

Read a detailed analysis of the bill by Shawn Akers of Liberty Counsel that's mentioned in the fact sheet.

When combined with existing law, this bill could have a very chilling effect on free speech.   A pastor could be charged with inciting a hate crime for the content of his sermon.  An individual could be charged with one for simply resisting the actions or advances of a homosexual or lesbian.

Call your two U.S. Senators toll free at 877-851-6437 to vote against S. 909 . If that phone number doesn't work, you can use the regular toll switchboard number 202-224-3121.     (Please note that the bill does not include the word "pedophile" when you make a call.   Part of the danger of the bill is that it seems to make those who are pedophiles become part of a protected class covered under the terms "sexual orientation" and "gender identity.")   

Before you call, you may also want to read this list of suggestions for how to answer staffers.

Please also make some calls to the local offices of your Senators and send him or her some e-mails.     The phone numbers and links to the e-mail forms can be found on the page for your state in our Coast2Coast section.

The Senators who need most to hear from all of us right now are those who serve on the Judiciary Committee.
Here's a list of all of the members of that committee.

More details on the bill can be found in this week's WND column by Janet Porter.

In reference to some comments that we have received about Matthew Shepard and that our statements do not really inform readers about what the bill will and will not do:

Here is an article from ABC's 20/20 from 2004 about Shepard's killers and their motives (this is the first of four pages - there is a link at the bottom to each of the other three pages)

Michael Medved references this in a column from December 2004.

However, the media and others holding up Shepard as an example, choose to ignore the testimony of the killers and those who know them well.

As with many other bills, the problem lies not so much in what the bill says, but what it doesn't and how it will be interpreted by the courts.   For instance, in the hearings before the House Judiciary and the full House, there were multiple calls by opponents of the bill to clarify various aspects.  All of these calls for amendments and clarification were voted down.   Even a call for a statement to declare that this bill gives no protection to pedophiles didn't receive enough votes for approval.

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Freedom of Speech
written by Emily Ploeg, July 18, 2010

This bill, if it is passed, can prove to not only take away our freedom of speech but also our protection. We must realize homosexuality and lesbianism are sins. God created man and woman. Our genders do not change. Please pray that God will protect us. Evil prevails when good men do nothing.

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