Hawaii recently amended and passed an extension to the 'hate crimes' (a/k/a thought crimes) bill, that adds 'protection' for "transvestites and others whose gender identity might make them a target of abuse". Although Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle did not sign the bill, she let it pass into law without opposition.

The governor said she had a lot of questions about the concept of hate crimes, "about whether any particular life is worth more than any other particular life so if you fell within a certain class somehow the penalty should be greater or lesser."

"But once you've gone down that road, this seems a reasonable addition," Lingle said.

So there you have it. In the state of Hawaii, gays and transgendered people are worth more than regular folks like you and me. If one of them get's murdered, the sentence will be much stiffer than if you or I get murdered.

The concept behind 'hate crimes' legislation, is to try to measure what the criminals were thinking, and what their motivations were. Therefore, if I get murdered for the $10 I have in my pocket, it isn't as serious a crime than if I was murdered for wearing a dress. Naturally, opposing such an idea results in the usual cries of racism or in this case, bigotry against gays and transgenders. Ironically, however, it is the law (and not the opponents) that is inherently bigoted.

I'm from the school of thought that all violent crime should be treated as serious, not just those that impact a minority. The idea that a straight white male attacking another straight white male is somehow less serious than if he'd attacked a transgendered she-male is not only offensive, it would seem to be a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Amendment Fourteen states that no state shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws", which is clearly what 'hate crime' bills do. They deny non-gays the same protections that gays currently enjoy.

So the question becomes, what to do about violence toward people that are different, in this particular case, homosexuals and transgendered people. Well, since the police have been unable (or unwilling) to protect them, I would start by letting them protect themselves. Hawaii should loosen the restrictions on the concealed carry of firearms. While Hawaii technically allows concealed carry, they choose not to issue licenses. Since the state has no 'shall issue' law, unless you are a police officer, a politician, or Don Ho, you are shit out of luck.

I hate to have to be the one to put it bluntly, but let one of these ignorant gay bashing mo-fos run across a 'Pink Pistol' packing a .45 in his purse. After a few of these neo-nazi thugs get their head blown off and they'll think twice about their random unprovoked attacks. Firearm's are the great equalizer, and even the most effeminate man could take down an attacker without so much as breaking a nail.

Now that would be progress.