COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – A hate crime bill in South Carolina no longer protects gays or transgender people after a Republican leader said that including them would likely cause members of his party to withdraw their support.
A House subcommittee on Thursday approved an amendment removing the bill’s sexual orientation, creed, gender, age and ancestry. The measure now includes only six protected groups, all of which have long been included in federal law: race, color, religion, sex, nationality and physical or mental disabilities.
Supporters of the bill as originally written, it questioned the value of a hate crime law that does not include gays and transgender people, who they say are among those most in need of protection.
“The mere fact that in 2021 there is any disagreement over whether gays should be included in a hate crime bill is an indication of why we need the bill,” said Democratic Rep. Justin Bamberg of the city of Bamberg.
Proponents of the bill also deplored the fact that the state took so long to approve any hate crime measure. It has been almost six years since a self-declared white supremacist killed nine black parishioners at Emanuel AME church in Charleston.
South Carolina is one of only three states – along with Arkansas and Wyoming – without a hate crime law and the state’s powerful business community said the lack of protection could prevent expansions and new businesses.
The decision surprised LGBT groups, who felt encouraged by the progress of the project.
“The FBI has declared that hate crimes against LGBTQ people are on the rise and if we can’t count on our representatives to pass a hate crime bill that actually includes one of the communities most affected by hate crimes, then what is the point of this account? ”Said Chase Glenn, the executive director of the South Carolina Alliance For Full Acceptance.
House Judiciary President Chris Murphy said that protections for gays and transgender people could be restored as the legislation is passed by the rest of the House or Senate. Murphy and the chairman of the Republican subcommittee, Weston Newton, said they understand the reasons for including sexual orientation in the project. But they said they needed so much Republican support how they could quickly. It is very difficult to pass any bill that does not have broad support, unless passed in at least one chamber by April 8.
“The goal is to get a project that we can approve,” said Murphy, a Republican from Summerville.
Newton said the amended hate crime bill may provide more protection than it appears after judges in a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision Georgia, discrimination based on sex includes sexual orientation or gender identity.
But the project’s sponsor, Beth Bernstein, said the decision was unclear and could require the South Carolina Supreme Court to agree to the broader definition.
“This is just disappointing,” said the Democrat from Columbia, who worked for months to carefully draft the bill, including holding public hearings last summer. who tried to be as inclusive as possible.
Republicans won two seats in the House and three in the state Senate in the 2020 elections, and the shift to the right was impossible to miss in this legislative session. A law that would likely ban almost all abortions was passed after years of trying, but was suspended in court. A bill that prohibits transgender students from playing sports on women’s teams in elementary and high schools is receiving audiences. And the House is likely to accept a proposal to allow people to carry weapons openly.
Conservatives fear that the hate crime bill could be used against religious groups that oppose homosexuality or abortion.
Supporters agreed on Thursday to remove civil penalties and include a clause that the penalty for hate crimes cannot exceed the penalty for the original crime. The bill would add five years to prison for someone convicted of murder, assault or another violent crime fueled by hatred, three years for harassment or harassment and an extra year behind bars for vandalism.
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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.