I oppose hate crime legislation. And while the recently passed bill does have a useful provision (increasing funds to help investigate these crimes, particularly for rural communities lacking resources), differentiating the punishment for physically identical crimes is both a bad idea and wrong.
Does the fact that a man is killed because he is gay make that crime worse than if he were killed for being an asshole (something about which I’m personally very concerned)? In both cases, the murder "hated" the victim enough to kill him. But because one hate is bourn of prejudice and another of antipathy, we should punish the offenders differently?
Violence against anyone, for any reason is heinous. That men and women suffer violence each day because others are offended and afraid of difference is a stain on our society, and something in need of remedy. But increasing punishment for such crimes is not the remedy.
Those interested in reducing these crimes need not to increase punishment, but to address their root causes: hate and intolerance. Rather than pushing for a bill to tack ten years onto some criminals’ sentences, we should be working to provide more funds for diversity education. And while these aren’t mutually exclusive options, our focus should be more on the latter and less on the former. But it’s hard to teach tolerance and easy to keep someone in jail a bit longer, so that’s what we get.
Some may argue that increasing punishment will deter potential hate-criminals. But in reality, a man deranged enough to commit violence against another person because of a difference is going to commit that act. Now he may not leave a note saying "I hate gays" or burn a cross, but I find any argument in support of this as a deterrent fallacious.
There is far too much intolerance and far too much violence in America. And we are most horrified when those two form a nexus, leaving behind crimes so vile we are disgusted by both the act, and a society in which such a thing is possible. But the solution is not to ban intolerance, but to preach tolerance. While HR 1561(pdf) is a symbol of tolerance and a rejection of hate, as sound public policy, it fails.