There’s a movement under way demanding the resignation of Virginia Foxx, the ignorant Republican congressperson from North Carolina who last week enraged millions of Americans with her comments on the House floor regarding proposed hate-crime legislation named after Matthew Shepard, the young gay man who was murdered in Wyoming 10 years ago by two loathsome, cowardly rednecks. Here’s what Foxx said:
“The hate crimes bill that’s called the Matthew Shepard Bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn’t because he was gay. This – the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”
The callousness of Foxx’s comment is so breathtaking, it’s hard to fathom. She calls this heinous act a “very unfortunate incident.” Here was a 21-year-old college student, all of 5′ 4″ tall and 100 pounds, pistol-whipped, tortured and tied to a ranch fence, where he was left for dead. (Shepard was found in a coma by a cyclist the next day and died in a hospital less than a week later.) To call it a robbery gone awry is to maliciously ignore reality. It was nothing less than the lynching of a gay man. Think about it: Wasn’t tying Matthew to a fence by the side of a road the equivalent of “stringing him up”?
I remember well when it happened, as I’m sure do many of you. It was one of those stories that left you numb, nauseous and depressed for days, unable to comprehend the capacity for cruelty and hate which exists in our world. I recall wondering what this poor young man’s last moments were like, whether he tried to reason with his tormentors, whether he begged for his life, whether he tried to fight back or escape against impossible odds, whether he thought about his mother or family before losing consciousness while bound to a fence as the thermometer dropped to the low 30s that night in Laramie. It’s the kind of grisly fate nobody deserves. I also wondered whether Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney were laughing it up during the course of their despicable deed, egging each other on and competing to outdo each other’s savagery, and whether they basked in the glow of their “accomplishment” as they drove off, riding their hate high and discussing to whom they could safely brag about their macho act of frontier “justice.”
And to have an elected official, a member of the U.S. Congress, trivialize this hate murder as a political stunt, a “hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills”… well, that’s really the money quote, isn’t it? Because Virginia Foxx wants to deny that acts of violence against the members of society she and her ilk historically view with revulsion and disdain — gays, lesbians, African-Americans and other minorities — are motivated by anything more than garden-variety greed and opportunism. Essentially, they want the rest of us to believe bigotry-based violence against homosexuals and minorities doesn’t exist, even as the history books are filled with countless examples going back to the early days of our country.
But it’s more than that. The real fear of the hate-crime deniers is that hate-crime legislation somehow will 1) infringe on their right to continue fomenting hate through speech, and 2) make them at least indirectly responsible for hate crime. I couldn’t express it any better than what I came across recently in A Good Choice…, a bizarre and disturbing blog whose tagline reads, “America is in the midst of a raging cultural and spiritual war. Forces of Good, Light, Conservatism and a Judeo-Christian Worldview daily battle the forces of Evil, Darkness, Socialism and False Religions and Philosophies. A Good Choice is on the frontlines exposing evil across America’s political and social spectrum.” Here’s what these Godly Christians say about hate-crime legislation:
So-called “hate crimes” and “anti-discrimination” laws would have ultimate two-fold effect of elevating homosexuality to not only a protected status, but also setting in motion the silencing of true Christians’ free expression of absolute Biblical truth in regard to the basic immorality of homosexuality, as well as other sexual perversions. This silencing of all opposition is also part of the homosexual agenda.
So you can see it’s very important for gay-hating Christian extremists and their loyal legislators to oppose hate-crime legislation, or even the very notion of hate crimes. Otherwise the rights of people like the unhinged Rev. Fred Phelps to pickets funerals with signs such as “Matthew Shepard rots in Hell” and “God Hates Fags” would be endangered. And what kind of sick, perverted country would we be if one of His humble servants were prohibited from doing the Lord’s work?
Virginia Foxx’s presence as a national representative is an affront to decency. The effort to shame her out of office is being led by David Badash, creator of the blog The New Civil Rights Movement. David is a gay rights activist, an intelligent, articulate and impassioned writer whose uncompromising commitment to social justice is inspiring and humbling. I’m proud to call myself one of his followers on Twitter and fully support the FireFoxx movement.
Sadly, though, even if Foxx is successfully forced from office, it’s unlikely her replacement will be any better. The 5th Congressional district of North Carolina, bordering Tennessee and Virginia, is one of the most conservative in this blood-red state. Since the 1994 election, it has been represented by Richard Burr, now a U.S. senator, and Foxx, both extreme right-wingers. Among other things, Burr is pro-death penalty and supports a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Foxx, in addition to her adamant opposition to hate-crime legislation, was one of only 11 members of Congress in 2005 to vote against aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Maybe she thought the pictures of thousands of homeless African-Americans huddled in the Superdome and on the street were a hoax. She also voted in 2006 against extending the Voting Rights Act.
Foxx easily has won reelection twice since taking office in 2004, so it’s clear the majority of voters in N.C.’s 5th District like their politicians a certain way. Hopefully the unwanted attention generated by Foxx’s foolish and vile comments will cause enough of them to rethink their beliefs. It’d be a nice way for some good to come out of what so far has been a sorry display of intolerance and insensitivity.
I am from the 5th district of North Carolina. I am a gay woman, and devastated that my representative is such an embarrassment to my home. Don’t write us off so quickly, those who never voted for Virginia Foxx. Our grassroots movement is picking up steam.
I’m not writing you off quickly, Jacqui. I was careful to indict the “majority of voters” in your district. I’m in the 20th District in New York, which is heavily Republican, but we’ve elected two consecutive Democrats. So there’s always hope. Keep up the fight.
I wish people would stop calling her ignorant. You correctly identified what she was trying to do, and it is knowing and intentional. She and her ilk are trying to protect the right of violent, murderous scumbags like Shepard’s murderers to “express their Christian values” through acts like murder. They are trying to preserve the “I lost control because I was touched by a gay person’ defense. And I have a lot of names for this strategy, but ignorance isn’t one of them.
I am also from the 5th District and I am tired of voters here being bashed for electing Virginia Foxx. She was a much more moderate legislator in the North Carolina Senate and people have many other reasons besides her current views for voting for her. Since she was elected to Congress in 2004 her politics have changed conspicuously and continue to degenerate. I don’t like what she said, and I didn’t vote for her. But to say the majority of voters in the 5th District “like their politicians a certain way” is a tremendous leap in logic and an insult.
GREAT blog Bonedaddy King. However, I must disagree with one statement: “it’s unlikely her replacement will be any better.” My Dad, Roy Carter, ran against her this past November. He is a retired high school football coach AND progressive Democrat who supports Marriage Equality, Hate Crimes Legislation and transgendered-inclusive ENDA. Roy Carter raised the most money, got the most votes and generated the most excitement of ANY Democratic candidate in the history of NC-05 races. The only thing missing from a winning equation was support from the “Democratic Establishment” (i.e. NCDP; DNC; DCCC and HRC.) The average spent to get elected to the U.S. House in 2008 was $1.2M, making it impossible to win election without support from the establishment unless you are a millionaire. If the Democratic establishment makes ousting Foxx a priority it CAN BE DONE and a progressive voice CAN BE HEARD coming from the mountains of Western North Carolina.
I live in Oklahoma. Try saying that with a smile.
Let us not forget Oklahoma House of Representatives District 84 Republican Representative Sally Kern in her now infamous rant about homosexuality back in March 2008.
After receiving attention for the remarks, Kern said “I said nothing that was not true” and refused to apologize. She received a standing ovation from fellow Republican legislators in a private meeting a few days later. In response to Kern’s comments, hundreds of gay and lesbian rights supporters protested at the Oklahoma State Capitol on March 18. Over 1500 people later turned out at the Capitol in support of her.
Shortly after her statements became public, rumors surfaced that one of her sons is gay. The spread of these rumors prompted public denials by both her and her son.
Kern claimed to have received death threats that caused her to hire a bodyguard. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation officer who reviewed Kern’s emails said, “I wouldn’t characterize them as death threats.”
Interestingly enough, in November 2008 Kern won re-election to her District 84 Houst seat by a two thirds majority.
Here are a few quotes from Rep. Kern’s hateful speech…
Studies show, no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted for more than, you know, a few decades. . .
I honestly think it’s the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam. . .
They want to get them into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them . . . They are going after our young children, as young as two years of age, to try to teach them that the homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle.
You know, Gays are infiltrating city councils. . . Did you know that the city council of Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays? . .
. They are winning elections.
We have the gay-straight alliance coming into our schools. . .
One of my colleagues said We don’t have a gay problem in our community… well you know what, that is so dumb. If you have cancer in your little toe, do you just say that I’m going to forget about it since the rest of you is fine? It spreads! This stuff is deadly and it is spreading. It will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation.
This is why it is critical that folks speak out against gay hate speech. Sure Rep. Sally Kern has the right to be hateful and to say hateful things (as long as she doesn’t threaten people), but she doesn’t have the right to stay in the legislature. The people have got to speak up and vote her out of office, or better yet the legislature should impeach her and remove her from office. I see this as being no different than a state legislator coming out of the closet as a rabid racist and supporter of the KKK.
(Some info courtesy of Wikipedia)
Just wanted to say that I don’t live in NC’s 5th district, but I know many people that do, and its one of my most favorite places on earth. I know many, many progressive people there, and its a beautiful part of the country. Also, just to set the record straight, NC went to Obama in the last election, and we also elected a Democrat, and a woman, as our new governor. Our state has changed dramatically since the days of Jesse Helms, and I think that its time that the rest of the world recognized that.
Yes, there are places in the state that I would be hesitant to hold my boyfriend’s hand, but I do anyway. Change happens a little bit at a time, and the 20 years that I have lived in NC, I have seen great and sweeping change in attitudes about social issues.
Anything is possible, even Marriage Equality in the great state of NC. It just takes time, patience, and people willing to go out on a limb.
As a member of the 5th district, I agree with your views of Foxx and her legislation and increasingly radical politics since she’s been in Congress. But I take offense to the fact that you seem to think that just because she’s been reelected twice that we all here in the 5th district are backwards, non-progressive and against change. I myself voted for Roy Carter and strongly supported his campaign, my roommate and dear friend who also happens to be gay, worked tirelessly on his campaign trying to get him into Rep. Foxx’s seat. Many of us here in the 5th district despise Virginia Foxx and would love nothing more than to see her forcibly removed from her seat and see someone like Roy Carter replace her and have some moderation brought back to our 5th district representation. As Mr. Haley said so smartly, change happens a little bit at a time, but there can be great and sweeping changes that can happen. I look forward to the day that Virginia Foxx is swept out of office and the attitudes toward the 5th District are viewed more appropriately and we’re are not all grouped into the same category. We certainly did not all vote for her and certainly do not agree with the things that come out of her mouth!
I’m glad people feel so passionately about this topic. I certainly do. That’s why I blogged about it. Unfortunately, this passion seems to have led some to misinterpret what I wrote, specifically:
“Foxx easily has won reelection twice since taking office in 2004, so it’s clear the majority of voters in N.C.’s 5th District like their politicians a certain way.”
There’s nothing ambiguous here. I’m referring to the majority of voters in the 5th, not everyone. Just look at the facts: Foxx’s winning vote percentage in three consecutive elections has been above 57%. That’s a clear, strong majority by any definition. Her biggest victory margin came in 2006, after she opposed aid to Katrina victims and extending the Voting Rights Act. And she won with more than 58% of the vote against Roy Carter in 2008. I’d also note that, while Obama indeed won North Carolina, all but two of the nine full and three partial counties in the 5th went for McCain. (I know that’s clunky, but I couldn’t find a presidential vote total for the district. I’m not even sure one exists.)
People are welcome to disagree with what I write. That just goes with the territory. What’s frustrating is when they take offense to things I didn’t write, and when they take offense to things I “seem to think.”
I also wrote this:
“Hopefully the unwanted attention generated by Foxx’s foolish and vile comments will cause enough of them to rethink their beliefs. It’d be a nice way for some good to come out of what so far has been a sorry display of intolerance and insensitivity.”
And it can happen. As I noted in comment No. 2, I live in a conservative district in upstate New York whose politics are dominated by affluent Republicans and gun nuts. Yet we’ve elected two consecutive Democrats to Congress. (It took some special circumstances, but we did it.) I hope Foxx’s comments provide the special circumstances, the catalyst, for the kind of change that could lead to someone like Todd Carter’s dad representing the 5th.
Finally, I think Susan (comment No. 3) makes a valid point: Calling Virginia Foxx and her ilk “ignorant,” as I did, diminishes the repulsiveness of their intentions. They are knowingly hateful.
We’re on the same side, people.
It’s hard to decide which is worse: the convoluted ‘logic’ of her statements or the lack of outrage amongst thinking citizens. Imagine if Foxx had said that the Amber Alert system was thusly named because of an ‘unfortunate’ incidence of kidnapping and murder, yet had nothing to do with the fact that the victim was a 9 year-old defenseless child. People would be flipping! Yet that is precisely the point of her logic, isn’t it? If Matthew Shepard’s death and the consequent legislation is a hoax that is being used to pass legislation for what was already against the law (robbery, in this case), why couldn’t the same be said about the Amber Alert. Is it not merely ONE MORE piece of redtape designed to unfairly focus on children instead of the ‘real’ crime of kidnapping and murder? Ridiculous logic isn’t it? If that doesn’t make your skin crawl, I challenge you to be evaluated for sociopathy. (sidebar: to all my attorney friends, the analogy here focuses not on legality, but on logic.. please don’t slay me on the legal issue. Thank you, Management.)
Let’s take this all the way to ridiculoushood. How about we expose the ugly truth of Valentine’s Day! A secular holiday named after a patron saint? Gasp! A complete hoax designed to affirm capitalism’s hold on our affections. It was purely designed to enrich the coffers of florists, Hallmark, and Russell-Stover. Don’t be fooled people …. it is all merely a hoax. Come to the light …drink this Kool-aid. Come on over to the dark side Foxx … then stuff that in my socialist pipe and smoke it.
I am betting the mortgage that if Foxx were to receive death threats from extremist gay rights groups, she would be the first to say she was being persecuted for her beliefs. Take that to the next step. She is berated, beaten, raped, and left for dead by said group (ignore the gore and go with me here for a second). We could then pass the Wingnut Foxx Act – making the raping and killing of innocent blatherers against the law. Then we could come out with all our moral outrage and proclaim that law to be a hoax because it focuses improperly on her right to spout trash and not on the crime that has taken place. For shame!
Laws and systems are in place to protect those that need protecting. In this case, I think we the American public need protection from people like Foxx. Can we pass legislation declaring ‘bold-faced ignorance’ to be against the law and prosecute her first? It would be delicious irony using her own words, wouldn’t it?! In all seriousness, if we ignore this, we are merely ignoring the most obvious truth. Foxx and her mutant followers will take the next opportunity to come after people LIKE YOU who do, say, or think differently than their doctrine allows. History says so … remember Martin Niemoller’s famous poem? If not, Google it and then send it to Foxx. I dare you.