Lesbian attacked and raped: Hate Crime?

I completely agree.

That is just terrible.....and makes me downright sick........I don't care who the person is, nobody, but nobody deserves such treatment......she could have easily been killed.......I'm sure that this will forever leave her scarred.........both physically and emotionally. This is nothing but a vicious hate crime.

Yes it is a hate crime, but I have lived a long time and have never seen or heard of a crime that was anything else, especialy rape. I read nothing to say that the rapist (s) knew she was a lesbian. So I doubt it meets the critera for a hate crime by law.

I agree, the designation of a "hate Crime" is way out of wack. All crimes are hate crimes as far as I am concerned. Yes that designation only perpetuates prejudice.

I have a tendency to agree with Joe. I also agree with you that this whole ordeal for her is heinous and should never have occurred but truly she was singled out for one of her demographic attributes and with that in mind it makes it a hate crime. Now if she was attacked just because she was a woman again it would be a hate crime. I really don't think this is a good example for someone to be expressing indignation over a label.

Col. George,

Check out the story from Yahoo. It clearly states they knew she was a lesbian.

Just read the report. It is a Hate Crime by law and should carry a stiff penalty if the report is correct. Life?

Having read the article, I feel that this was a hate crime. They specifically targeted her because she was a lesbian. If it was just coincidental that she was a lesbian and they didn't know it, then it would be different. All rapes are a crime of violence and maybe the perpetrator "hates" women. But this kind of act which is targeted specifically at a lesbian is a "hate crime".

YOU said a very leading "happened to" (why)

If she was targeted because she was a lesbian, that's a horse of a different color.

I still disagree with the designation of "hate crime". That brutal rape should carry the stiffest penalty regardless of her sexual orientation. I would give them the max regardless of why they did it. I vote for Life.

How horribly sad.

I feel she was raped because she was a lesbian and that this is a hate crime.

joe couldn't have said it better . . . if she was targeted for being a lesbian then that is a crime on top of the initial rape crime. however, i think rape should carry one of the stiffest punishments regardless.

Any rapist should have the book thrown at them.

I'm curious to know how the attacker figured out she was lesbian? But putting that aside, I agree with you that any attack against another person is a crime of hate. As well, I cannot for the life of me see how an attacker's "motivation" for raping a woman can be given any degree of validity. Such a person is psychologically sick and will invent any kind of excuse for committing the crimes they commit. I'm sure most people who hate gays don't go about raping them to vent their anger toward them. This is not a hate crime, this is a crime by a sicko.

Sharon, the crime didn't happen because "this person hates lesbians." It happened because this person is a psycho. "Hating lesbian's" was just an excuse this sick mind invented to "justify" his actions. All of us hate something or other, but we don't go about raping, attacking or destroying to vent our hate.

Please, I just want to point out that this was not ONE person, ONE "sicko"... she was raped and attacked by a GROUP of men. Their motivation as a GROUP is relevant here. You cannot expunge the hate involved by categorizing it as the sick workings of a mentally ill individual.

how terrible

Unless I'm mistaken, if a crime is classified as a "hate crime", the perpetrators are subject to harsher penalties. I can live with this group of rapists being subject to harsher penalties.

Carol, precisely.

"Hate-Crime" is an oxymoron.

THAT WAS TERRIBLE, HOPE THE SAME THING HAPPENS TO WHO EVER DID IT IN PRISON.

This is so sick!~

Well first of all....how could it be a hate crime especially if the person doing the raping did not know the woman was a lesbian? Seriously.

I think that most crimes are commited out of hate. Especially rape, killing, but its a crime. Is there more of a punishment if it is a hate crime? All crimes should have stiff penalties.

Well said Carol. Funny how we are now trying to define crimes by reading criminal's hearts and thoughts...

How can you make such a crime worse, by a label because its against a certain group or sub group of women?

I went to the link you provided, Carol - Thanks.

It says the following: A woman in the San Francisco Bay area was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, repeatedly raped and left naked outside an abandoned apartment building, authorities said Monday.

She was taunted for being a lesbian, then raped. Yes that's a hate crime.

I agree, Carol. Remember the movie "Boys Don't Cry"?

I think the levity in some of these comments is totally inappropriate considering the subject matter.

rape is a crime of violence and hatred toward women, but I don't think this should be labeled as a hate crime.

It's terrible that ANYONE had to go through this, but I don't think her orientation makes it any worse. Did they target her because she was a lesbian, or did they target her because she was woman, and just happened to be a lesbian, whether or not they knew that?

It's too bad that this happens to people.

Okay, now that I see that she was targeted because she was a lesbian, I still say that it's unfair for ANYONE to be raped. Her being a lesbian should not make this any worse than other rapes...

I think anyone who gets raped has a lot to deal with. :/

Well put, Sandy F. While all crimes include a certain element of hate in the broadest sense, in order for the act to be raised to a more reprehensible level designated a "hate crime", it must be committed with an intent to injure someone in violation of a constitutionally protected right. It is not a random assessment, nor is it applied lightly. It has everything to do with enforcement of the freedoms enumerated in a state constitutuion or the federal constitution, and the level of proof necessary is accordingly elevated for the enhancement. So while all rapes are cruel and deserve heavy penalties, rapes perpetrated BECAUSE some person belongs to a constitutionally protected class (and not solely sexual or violent in nature) receive additional penalties. Based on the information given in the report, this should definitely qualify as a hate crime under the California Constitutional classification.

It is so sad and unecessary.

did the attacker know that she is a lesbian? that is the key question. Hate crimes against lesbians do happen. there was one case documented where a lesbian couple were making love in a secluded area off the Appalachian Trail. A male apparently happened to be in the area and spotted them from a distance. He was carrying a gun and started shooting- one of the girls was killed.
What were they doing to him?

AttackerS! She was attacked, beaten, raped and left naked in the street by FOUR men, who saw her get out of her car with a rainbow pride sticker, followed her across the street, hit her in the head, forced her to strip, raped her, then forced her into her own car, drove her to another place and raped her again over a fortyfive minute period, all the while making slurs about her being a lesbian. They then left her there naked and badly beaten and drove off with her car. I do not see how anyone can claim this is not a crime that has the necessary elements to be considered a hate crime if the facts reported are accurate. Do the commenters NOT READ the story?

Paula- sounds like a hate crime to me.

Thank you, Chris W. Sorry if the level of my frustration with some of the comments made me somewhat shrill. It just seemed like people were blithely ignoring the information in front of them to wander off the whole point of the news article.

Joe, I am not "mean-spirited." We reduce the level of the MEANING of EVIL, for ANY crime, when we introduce "gradations." It is redundency, it is stupidity; It is foolishness.

Evil is Evil.

I wonder what MJK would think of someone being raped because they were Christian. Would that be "more evil" than just being raped? Or is it just one in the same ... "evil is evil."

I agree with Joe here. I think he has said it well.

This is a hate crime and should be treated as such. It is a shame.

Agree with carol!

I guess a lot of thing do not change at all. This is definitely a "hate" crime and Mark-John still misses the point of so many things! Not much changes on Gather. I like the point where it is wondered what he would have to say if a crime was committed against someone just because they were Christian. Doesn't seem like he has ciorcled back to provide that answer though.

Rape is a violent and nasty crime that is filled with hate to begin with. If you add to that the fact that this particular rape was done because of this lady's sexual orientation than it definitely qualifies as an extra hateful crime and meets the statue for special prosecution to be carried out.

Carol, I just wanted to say that I've been saying this for years. Comitting acts of violence against another human is hate. All violent crimes are hate crimes. I'm so glad you wrote this article, because I think the more we say it, the more people will think about it. I'm giving you a 10 for the substance of the article and for the courage it took to write it.

Melinda W, you said "The key is that you wouldn't have been attacked as a heterosexual woman." Do you have any idea how many heterosexual women are raped a year???? Also, I know heterosexuals who have gay pride stickers on their cars because they support gay rights. So, HOW did these guys KNOW she was a lesbian??? They assumed, maybe, but they didn't necessarily know.

Sugar Momma, Nazi's targeted MANY groups. Take a moment and look up on the internet the many different patches that were used in the camps to show which group folks belonged to.

Dorian, you ask why we "whine" if we don't think it is a hate crime. Well, let me put it this way. I have 2 daughters, one gay, one straight. If my straight daughter is raped, I believe there is as much hate there as if my gay daughter is raped and I want just as severe punishment for the guy that did it. It was said that the designation of "hate crime" is saved for those who are protected under the constituion. Well, my straight daughter is supposed to be entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by that same constitution. Any crime that takes away any of those things from her, needs to have the same severity of punishment as it would for my gay daughter. As far as I know, ALL Americans are supposed to be protected by the constitution and those of us who are saying that all crimes are hate crimes are trying to say all crimes include hate. Does that answer your question?

Mark-John, You said "We reduce the level of the MEANING of EVIL, for ANY crime, when we introduce "gradations."" I totally agree, as I hope I showed in my explanation using two daughters as examples. We need to protect all people and we also need to recognize that these men were just plain evil and just because they chose to rape a lesbian this time doesn't mean they haven't (collectively or solo) raped other people. They aren't blessed citizens who are trying to voice their opinions. They are horrible, ugly men who are going to hurt anyone they disagree with.

I completely agree

Is there any follow up to this story? Did they find the people that did it?

The whole hate crime generalization is stupid. If we punished crimes the way they deserved to be punished their wouldn't be an issue. Raping a woman because she is a lesbian causes just as much harm as raping a woman because you want to rape her. She still gets raped because of who she is - either way.

From the article: "A woman in the San Francisco Bay area was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, repeatedly raped and left naked outside an abandoned apartment building, authorities said Monday."

Clearly the rape was due to her perceived sexual orientation (who knows, maybe she was driving her sister's car with the rainbow flag). So the purpose was to terrorize the gay community. The act of domestic terrorism (which is really what a hate crime is) should receive additional punishment.

If you are heterosexual, look at it this way. These guys targeted her because of the rainbow sticker on her car and for no other reason. YOU might have a rainbow sticker on YOUR car. I have seen stickers from religious groups and other non-gay groups who use rainbows. So you could quite innocently be targeted even if you were heterosexual.

Don't think that going out and scraping the rainbow stickers on your car will make you safe. In my blog today I discussed a case where the attacker thought he was killing a gay man, but made a mistake. You never know WHAT people like this will think is a "sign" that you are gay. People like this need to be stopped in the early stages before they get to this point.

Check my blog here for details: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977889028

This is terrible. There are a lot of sick people out there, and doing something like this to another person is incredibly wrong.

I can't believe someone would do this to another person. First, Brandon. Then, Matthew. Then, this.