On March 11, South Carolina lawmakers said that sexual orientation and gender identity were not qualified for protection under the Hate Crime Bill.
Thanks to public outcry and a second legislative vote, the decision was rescinded five days later. A majority vote of 79-29 has allowed sexual orientation and gender identity to be considered at risk for hate crimes. This is important, as a survey from the Williams Institute has revealed that nearly a quarter of a million queer-identifying people live in South Carolina. Without this amendment to the bill, 31% of South Carolina’s population would be left unprotected from hate crimes.
With the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity, South Carolina legislators have taken a deliberate step towards creating a more amicable place to live. Without this legislation, minority groups would still be under constant threat. Though the bill was drafted in direct response to the Emanuel AME shootings of 2015, every minority group benefits from its ratification.
The House’s draft of the bill protects Americans who may be a target for hate crimes based on their “race, color, sex, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability – regardless of whether the offender’s belief or perception is correct.” With the inclusion of gender, sexual identity, and disability, the South Carolina government has opened dialogue in order to achieve true equity for all citizens. Emphasizing different minority groups allows each marginalized group to feel safer, which is something that should have been allowed in the first place.
Without this bill in place, South Carolina would see an increase in marginalized groups being the target for unnecessary violence. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), each group mentioned in the Hate Crime Bill has been the target of at least one hate-fueled attack in the last three years. These attacks largely took place in metropolitan areas, versus rural communities – the larger a population is, the more likely there is a bigot in that community.
As more legislative acts come to light with the goal of protecting and advocating for minorities, the American people will grow to become more accepting overall. The bystander effect states that if a crime happens, then the majority of the witnesses will not come forward under the assumption that someone else will. This effect has kept countless hate crimes from being reported, which is part of the problem. By having a more outspoken opinion about what it considered right or wrong, South Carolina citizens will be keeping future hate crimes at bay by simply showing the oppressors that there is a support system behind their target.
With the ratification of this bill, South Carolina would stop being one of four states that has yet to acknowledge their citizens’ being attacked for simply existing. The United States is one of the world’s most diverse countries, yet it is one of the last first-world countries to develop a legal response to the terrorism of minority groups. By acknowledging that minority communities in the South are at risk for hate crimes, South Carolina has opened a dialogue for its citizens on what it means to be in danger by being alive.
This bill is yet to be ratified, and South Carolina citizens can do something about it. Contact your local and district representatives to express your concerns – if enough constituents voice disapproval changes will be made!
To locate your representatives and find out how to contact them, go to https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.
