The real prejudice is against those who dare have an opinion & disagree with LGBT. I really hope that she does not mean that someone MUST hire you just because of your sexuality. Seriously, sexuality should never even be known to an employer or landlord. I am tired of hearing about landlords/companies that have dead beat people that they cannot get rid of for fear of a lawsuit BECAUSE they belong to a particular "discriminated" group. Your work should be judged on its merit & leave your sexuality PRIVATE. Extremely obese people are denied things. Perhaps if a large group gets together and decides that it is ok to be extremely obese, then automatically the severe health concerns will dissapear and it will be "normal". Does more tolerance & loving acceptance mean that you do not tell people the TRUTH? Look, I am the first to agree that ALL people regardless of anything deserve love and forgiveness as Jesus said to, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." However, that doesn't mean that there is not a truth. The truth is, that the LGBT lifestyle is sinful, unhealthy & leads to destruction. IF we all sit back & do not tell the LGBT community the truth IN LOVE, then we are letting them just walk blindly on the path of death. Go to the Exodus website that helps those find REAL freedom away fro LGBT. See how loving the LGBT community is to you if you find freedom, become hetero & tell them that they are wrong. I am glad someone told ME the truth about gluttony.

@anonymous- invoking Jesus to support your bigotry just demonstrates why LGBT rights are an issue and need protection. Jesus spread love. Embrace that.

AND use your name, because if you were proud of your opinions, you would not hide behind anonymous. I do not understand people's needs to be transgendered, but I am not the final judge.

I dunno about that anon, I know Ashley personally and she has her life put together more than most of my cis gendered hetero sexual friends. And if you really want to throw the bible into this also consider that the devil can quote the bible.

I just want to say, using faith to spread hatred is just abhorrent.
Further, my sexuality was not even once mentioned in this article, so I'm not sure why that was mentioned. I did not have the luxury of being entirely stealth, I had to out myself to anyone who I write checks to or who wrote checks to me, because of the way money is handled.
As much as some are eager to cling to hate, its good to know not only the law supports me in Easton, but the vast majority of people are on the side of equality and love.

Wouldn't you just LOVE to be a fly on the wall at this fabulous confab!! Watch Biden do the Dodge the Dildo Dance!

yes equality whatever your preferences.. big deal, all i know is friends of mine who happen to be gay ..pay their own way,are educated,smart,and are not asking anyone for anything and what i really like.. is that they are not baby factories with no jobs,drains on society, now if they were drains on society i would be cursing them, not for being gay ,but for costing me money

@Ronnie- are you implying that those from the LGBT population aren't being discriminated against in our society? Your naïveté regarding discrimination is telling, especially in an era when women are still fighting for the rights to equal pay. How about those seeking the right to marry who they choose? How about blacks who are imprisoned at a disproportionate rate, or Latinos who are looked at as illegals stealing American jobs? Yeah, we all have equal rights already. Discrimination is non existent.

@Ronnie "We all have equal rights already." You are a funny guy. Have you considered stand-up? Judging from your photo I'm going to say you're a heterosexual white male. Tell me what you know about this topic and discrimination, because I am willing to bet you've as much experience with being the target of bigotry as you do being an astronaut.

@Ronnie- in an effort to not "twist" things further, I'll ask bluntly; do you support same sex marriage? Equal rights, equal justice, correct?

@Ronnie.
Glad to hear you're in favor of gay marriage, which certainly falls under your statement of "Equal Rights".

As the local activist mentioned in this article, I'd like to clarify a few terms that seem to have caused confusion.
First, Sex refers to your physical anatomy, while Gender refers to the cultural perceptions and expectations in a society. Sexual orientation refers to who/what you are attracted to, be it male or female or neither or both. Gender Identity refers to your own internal sense of your gender. Gender Expression refers to how you outwardly present your gender to the world. If you're having issues understanding the difference, try to list 5 reasons you feel your gender is whatever you identify as, that have nothing to sex.
Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression are the three categories included in most non-discrimination policies, and it is important to identify and understand the difference. For instance, my gender presentation (female) has nothing to do with my sexual orientation, which is not covered in this article and is an entirely different matter.
I am going to the White House to speak to the concerns of the transgender community. Transgender people face extremely high rates of discrimination. Take a look at the Nation Center for Transgender Equality's latest survey which found 78% of trans students report being bullied in school for their gender identity. 25% of respondents lost their jobs for being trans. 19% were refused medical care. 57% faced significant rejection from families. http://transequality.org/PDFs/Executive_Summary.pdf

Marie,
How then do you begin to address the discrimination which would be heaped upon the heterosexual community because the crimes perpetrated on them would be viewed as less significant. The answer isn't special consideration because the intent of the attacker perpetrating a hate crime is more sinister; the answer should be harsher punishment and enforcement regardless.
Ashley, Thanks for clarification on terminology for those of us who may not have known the difference, but equal justice should still prevail regardless.

Its so strange to me how people confuse sexuality with gender and sex... I think that is part of the issue. The lack of taking the time to understand what the terms mean and how they represent all parts of all of us. What type of genitalia a person has should have zero to do with what is expected of her behavior or attraction to others. Why does gender even matter and how does sex get involved with gender?? Why does gender matter? What does my genitalia have to do with anything other than the mechanics of sex and what part I play in making a child?

People that want to make our genitalia into a conversation around behaviors and what job I should/shouldn't do or who i should marry are just plain narrow minded. Let's hope as we break the lines of gender, sexuality, and orientation that all these lines can be withdrawn and all of us will want the best for each other. We all must allow for each of us to explore our own journey, even if we don't agree with someone's journey.

I am just "waiting on the world to change" Eventually we will outnumber all the narrow minded folks and more hearts will understand that the lines are simply restrictions on the human races natural evolution.

@Ronnie- the position that one person's definition of marriage, based on a religious notion, is somehow more right than a person who doesn't share that same belief system is indeed discriminatory. There was a period in history where blacks were thought to be less human. The prejudice was primarily based on religious thinking in that god prefered whites. The same holds true for how women were treated, in that god was obviously a man and the bible had said women were less than. Oh, and polygamy is all over the bible as well.

@Ronnie- and my name shouldn't matter. Would knowing who I was somehow make my opinion more valid to you, or would it be seen as an opportunity to marginalize my pov? You use your real name, but that doesn't mean anything. You could go by anonymous and I would still see your opinion as I do now.

I think everyone is making really great points here, including Ronnie as well as Ashley and her supporters. However, what we should all agree upon is that rights should be equal for everyone. I do believe that if anyone, whether it be the government or citizens, are preventing someone from having equal rights, that it should be addressed. I do not believe Ash is attempting to get special rights for LGBT, but rather she is trying to ensure that she, as well as other LGBT members, receive equal rights. For heterosexual white individuals, discrimination is very little. We are the majority. We do not need special laws protecting our rights because no one seems to be infringing upon them. On the other hand, there are many instances where the LGBT community's rights are being infringed upon, and Ashley is moving to see that all LGBT are ensure equal rights through any means necessary. To Ronnie, I ask you to think about if we would in the future become discriminated against, wouldn't it be nice to live in a country where we could move to instate laws to ensure our rights? I know, personally, that I would appreciate that right as a citizen. I think we are reading too much into the technicality of it when all it is a group of people being discriminated against who are simply striving to obtain those rights. White heterosexuals have the luxury of equal rights without any extra laws in place to protect us. The LGBT community does not.

And also, think of this: my brother recently got married and he and his bride were both atheists. However, no question was raised when he got married. If marriage is something religious in nature, we cannot just discriminate because it says it must be between a man and a woman. What about the fact that it is a religious service, but atheists are allowed to get married? If we are upholding the marriage tradition as religious, then we should be saying that only a Christian man and a Christian woman may get married. We're being fatuous by taking a statement of the bible so far, and then allowing people who don't even believe in that statement to engage in something religious. Just some food for thought.

@Ronnie- my use of a pseudonym shouldn't reflect onto my integrity anymore than your use of your real name gives your opinion anymore credence. That's just an attempt to distract from your weak argument. First rule of debate; attack the subject, not the person. I'm not a reporter, nor am I looking to aggrandize my position in the community via posting here. you speak of cowardice, what's more cowardly than hiding one's prejudice behind the bible, to invoke Jesus when while discriminating? Funny thing is, people who know me in real life know what I post under, so I'm not really anonymous, you just don't know me.

@Ronnie- your ability to discuss the topic in a linear fashion is the limitation on this debate, not my identity. I was discussion discrimination, you turned it into a conversation about who I am. Who cares who I am? That doesn't change the fact that you view Ashley and other LGBT people as less then thru your use as the bible as a defense. Otherwise, same sex marriage would be a moot point. Try to stay on topic next time.

@Ronnie- to be accurate, we were discussing the nature of discrimination, or at least your first comment was about how the LGBT community shouldn't seek preferential treatment, and I entered the dialogue asking about discrimination. You brought up equal rights, equal justice. I asked if that included same sex marriage. You brought up what the bible says about that and then started in on the questions about who I was and the began throwing the word coward around for some reason. Not sure how I was the one who took the conversation off topic considering that. As for hijacking the thread, you could say that I suppose but I think that's more a reflection of a weak position on a subject than a reflection of anything I did or didn't do.

i am wondering.. what do these activists want the government to do? i myself dislikes the government passing more things that i cannot do, even though i do not do them i really dislike limiting my use of vocabulary i am permitted to use in a heated debate this is america ,freedom of speech, with all these activists .. i think straight people may soon need to be on the the discriminated list

@Daniel- a father's love shouldn't have conditions.

Dear Mr. McLaughlin,

I want to reach out to you because I feel that your likely struggling with your child's most recent transition. I worry about your ability to love your child regardless of their life journey. I understand you must be hurting inside and I want to help guide you to where you can find support in your struggle with your child. I know that you must worry that you did something wrong or try to blame "fault" on someone else. Please I assure you that there are other parents that feel the same as you but often its a matter of recognizing your newest addition to the family. I don't expect you to ever forget your son that you raised, the boy that you loved when he was only 5. But I would hope that once you are through morning the death of your son you could then move on to celebrate the birth of your daughter. A beautiful activist feminist that can stand up for who she is. She can stand up for love, for the loving everyone just as they are. She can stand for a healthy tomorrow that we all know is our sickness today. I know that you can contact the GLBT center in your area and they will be happy to help you get to a PFLAG meeting where you can meet other parents just as yourself, that are struggling with the same ideas. I hope that your able to reach out and find the peace and love that you so deserve. I hope that God can help guide you to peace with you son's death and acceptance of your daughter. Please find a way to love your child again.

Since when is motive NOT taken into account, Susan and Ronnie? I was under the impression that investigators...you know...investigated, and then the motive is taken into account upon charging someone. But perhaps I was wrong?

Susan, that analogy you gave by the way, about a heterosexual getting stabbed for heroin money and a transgendered person being stabbed for basically just being alive, is rather like comparing apples and oranges.

A hate crime is not just about committing a crime. It is about committing a crime motivated by hateful ideologies. Someone harms another person for no reason other than hatred for what that person is. When an individual harms someone because of their race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age etc.... it isn't just a senseless crime. It is also a form of domestic terrorism. It is not just about the individual who was harmed. It is bigger than that. By attacking someone because of who they are, it also sends out a threatening message of hate to an entire targeted community. It's no longer "Gay people should die" graffiti in the city, or spray painting a swastika on a Synagogue. Rather, it is a message sent out by eliminating someone, or attempting to, through a violent crime.

The crimes need to be treated differently, because they are indeed very different.

For those who keep insisting on equal rights, equal justice, those laws are meant to protect white, heterosexual males as well. If a white man is killed by non-whites BECAUSE he is white, that is a hate crime and would be covered by hate crimes legislation. If a straight man is killed by a group of gays BECAUSE he is straight, that is a hate crime and would be covered by hate crimes legislation. Josh is exactly right - motivation is taken into consideration. That's why there are different degrees of murder as well as voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Motive has always made a difference.