Hate-crimes bill spurs some worry from religious groups

To Bishop E. W. Jackson Sr., homosexuality is sin, and he needs to preach about it. That's why he fears new legislation that puts sexual orientation under hate crimes protection.

"We could find ourselves in a situation where we're accused of inciting someone," Jackson said of pastors who oppose homosexuality. "I am categorically opposed to the hate crimes bill."

Under the bill, crimes based on a victim's sexual orientation or sexual identity could be prosecuted as hate crimes. The measure was approved by Congress and is likely to be signed into law by President Barack Obama today.

The legislation has language meant to preclude prosecution of anyone, including religious leaders, on the basis of speech or beliefs, but socially conservative clergy and religious groups say the bill threatens freedom of religious expression.

Jackson, who leads Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake, is against anti-gay violence, but he is worried that preaching against homosexuality could make a pastor liable for violence by anyone who heard his interpretation of Scripture.

That prospect could lead clergy to avoid the topic, he said. "I do believe it will have a chilling effect on free speech."

Gordon Robertson expressed a similar view, calling the bill "dangerous" on Friday while hosting "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network. CBN is based in Virginia Beach.

The Rev. Steve Jolly of Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk is among clergy who applauded extending hate-crimes protection to gays. "Violence born of hatred is doubly repugnant," he said.

Jolly disputed that freedom of speech would be threatened or that pastors expressing their religious view of homosexuality would be culpable for violence by others.

"If I stand up in the pulpit and say the consumption of alcohol is evil and we should pour it all in the river, that's a personal opinion," he said, offering an analogy. "That's very different from saying, 'There's a bar down the road; let's break in and pour all the alcohol into the river.' "

The bill's success in Congress was cheered by local gay-rights supporters, including Don King, who lives with his partner in Norfolk.

"I did a little dance that it had finally come to fruition," said King, who works in real estate. "Maybe there might be some thought before people go out and do these horrific hate crimes."

Even with the expanded federal hate crime measure, Jon Blair of Equality Virginia, a gay-rights advocacy group, said Virginia should add sexual orientation and gender identity to its state hate-crimes law.

The group's roster of assaults based on sexual orientation includes a 2005 attack on an 18-year-old man in Suffolk. The attackers reportedly yelled slurs about his sexual orientation during the beating.

Those accused were charged with assault by mob and malicious wounding but not with a hate crime.

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com