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LifeSiteNews.com
Tuesday November 14, 2006
Casey Ran as "Pro-Life"; His First Act Seeks "Sexual Orientation" Hate Crime Law
Touted as pro-life and pro-family moderate who values his Catholic faith
By Meg Jalsevac
SCRANTON, PA, November 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Within 24 hours of winning the bitter Pennsylvanian Senate race against incumbent Republican Rick Santorum, Democrat Senator-elect Bob Casey, Jr. let his real agendas show through. Citizenlink.org has reported that, the very day after the election, Casey announced that he would work in support of legislation to increase the scope of federal hate crimes law to encompass sexual orientation and gender identity as a victim group.
Casey was chosen by the Democratic party to run against Santorum because of his supposedly moderate Democratic views. Throughout the election race, Casey’s campaign touted him as a pro-life and pro-family moderate candidate who valued his Catholic faith.
However, Casey was immediately and unabashedly backed in his election bid by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a pro-gay activist group. On the HRC website, it claims “HRC flexed its political muscle and launched an extensive and strategic campaign in partnership with local organizations that resulted in a clear victory for fair-minded candidate Casey.”
According to the website, HRC raised over $375,000 for Casey’s campaign. It also claims that it supplied 4 office staffers and hundreds of volunteers to encourage Pennsylvanians to vote.
Casey thanked HRC the day after the election saying, “HRC got behind my campaign early and has been a tremendous help. I look forward to working with HRC’s incredible staff and membership, especially to advance hate-crimes legislation in the Senate.”
In several election surveys Casey admitted that he opposed gay marriage but that he would support homosexual unions. In October of last year, Casey was quoted in The Philadelphia Jewish Voice as saying “I don't support gay marriage, but I also don't support a constitutional amendment banning it. That would be tremendously divisive. However, I do support same sex unions that would give gay couples all the rights, privileges and protections of marriage.”
Casey also admitted in similar surveys that he would support legislation that would increase penalties for crimes committed against an individual because of their sexual orientation.
Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, said, “It didn’t take long for his true colors to show through. Too Many Pennsylvanians were misled and misinformed by Mr. Casey's campaign rhetoric."
Adding sexual orientation verbage to hate-crime legislation is a threat to the First Amendment rights of all Americans who oppose homosexuality. Gramley said, "Right here in Pennsylvania we know what hate-crimes legislation that includes 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' can mean to Christians. In 2004 we witnessed 11 Christians being arrested and charged with a hate crime for simply reading Scripture and singing choruses at a homosexual event."
The event that Gramley referred to happened in October 2004 when 11 Christian protestors were arrested and held in jail for 21 hours on various charges. The protesters were protesting OutFest, a homosexual festival held in Philadelphia. The protesters were swarmed by members of a homosexual group but only the Christian protesters were taken into custody by police.
Soon after the event, it surfaced that the homosexual group had planned their actions well before the actual event. The coordinator of the homosexual event said “It's our event, and we're not going to permit vendors or community groups that conflict with the theme of the event.” He also publicly admitted that their actions infringed on the First Amendment rights of the Christians. No charges were brought against any of the homosexual individuals.
Canada and several other countries recently passed hate-crime legislation which included ‘sexual orientation’ as a specific victim group. Within those jurisdictions there have been several instances of individuals, particularly clergy members, being prosecuted for speaking out about the immorality of homosexuality.
Santorum, decisively beaten by a 20% margin by Casey, was nationally renowned for his conservative views, especially on issues of life and family. He had previously voted against legislation that had attempted to include sexual orientation under the hate-crime umbrella.
Too late, Pennsylvania voters are finding out the hard way that Senator-elect Casey’s actions will speak much louder than his words.
Source URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06111403.html
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