Guess what? If you get attacked because you’re gay in the state of West Virginia, the justice system won’t protect you.
This past Tuesday, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that the hate crime law in the state doesn’t apply to anti-gay assaults or any crime based on sexual orientation.
This ruling came down to a 3 to 2 vote that will now greatly affect the LGBTQ people living in the state. Now those people will have no protection from violence or discrimination from people who will no longer fear repercussions.
The decision was made during the end of the West Virginia v Butler case. The case started in 2015 after college football player Steward Butler allegedly shouted homophobic language and attacked two men for kissing in public.
After the act was charged as a hate crime, Butler’s defense team argued that the state’s hate crime laws only cover violence “because of sex” and not sexual orientation.
This case made its way up to West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals, which again voted against defining hate crimes as something that can be based on sexual orientation.
Chief Justice Allen H. Loughry wrote to defend this ruling and said that that the “common and ordinary meaning” of the word sex “imparts being male or female, and does not include ‘sexual orientation.”
That said, the vote wasn’t unanimous. Justice Margaret L. Workman and Justice Robin Jean Davis argued that sexual orientation can be the basis of a hate crime.
As Workman said, “The absence of … those two magic words”—sexual orientation—“does not definitely resolve the question presented by this case.”
That said, it seems that this is no longer an issue for the judicial branch of West Virginia’s government but for the legislative branch. Until they update the law to include sexual orientation, the state’s Supreme Court may continue to rule this way.
h/t: Slate
Sexual orientation is
Sexual orientation is logically protected by any law that protects gender. If a man is attacked for being attracted to men, what is the root cause of the attack? The attraction to men itself remains the same between gay men and straight women, but a straight woman wouldn't be attacked for her orientation. Obviously, the aspect that actually prompts the attack is the gender of the person who has an attraction to men, not the sexual orientation itself.
It was a correct legal
It was a correct legal decision! It is indeed up to the legislature to correct this ASAP! Also assault is still against the law and shooting an SOB for putting their hands on you is legal.
So can we attack a straight
So can we attack a straight person and not be charged because they are straight.
All this is a cause to the
All this is a cause to the leader of the US an it needs to stop
Hope you all have gay
Hope you all have gay grandchildren and the end up getting bashed.
your gross and sad
your gross and sad