Oregon Man Charged with Federal Hate Crime After Attacking Gay Man

Source: United States Department of Justice

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Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Oregon Man Charged with Federal Hate Crime After Attacking Gay Man

An Oregon man has been charged with a federal hate crime after using the internet to target and brutally assault a gay man because of his sexual orientation.

Daniel Andrew McGee, of Springfield, has been charged by criminal complaint with a hate crime. The complaint alleges that McGee attempted to kill the victim.

According to court documents, McGee and his victim met using Grindr, a social media and networking application designed for, and used primarily by, gay men. On July 5, after agreeing to meet, McGee entered his victim’s apartment and proceeded to assault the man with a wooden club over a period of several minutes. Despite the victim’s pleas for McGee to stop, McGee continued striking the man repeatedly in the head with the club. The victim sustained life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital.

Further investigation revealed that, in the weeks leading up to the attack, McGee used the internet to search for and view graphically violent anti-gay material, including videos of anti-gay attacks. McGee also used the internet to plan the assault, purchasing the weapon and other materials online. In addition, McGee searched online for suggestions about how to get away with murder and how murderers avoid getting caught.

On Nov. 15, McGee was arrested by the FBI and made his initial appearance in federal court before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. He was ordered detained pending further court proceedings.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Eugene Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gavin W. Bruce for the District of Oregon and Trial Attorney Cameron A. Bell of the Civil Rights Division.

A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Topic(s): 

Civil Rights

Hate Crimes

Component(s): 

Civil Rights Division

Civil Rights - Criminal Section

Press Release Number: 

21-1132

Former Irvine Mayor's Homophobic Past Called Into Question

 

Irvine Watchdog Opinion: Christina Shea’s Homophobic Past Called Into Question

Read the original article at Irvine Watchdog here

This November, the Irvine mayoral seat is up for election, with incumbent Mayor Christina Shea running for the position. While Shea is the incumbent, she was not elected, and assumed the seat when the previous mayor resigned.

Shea is now running for “reelection.” Before you mark your ballot this November, I think it is worthwhile to take a look into Christina Shea’s past.

Last year, I began researching the LGBT rights movement in Orange County during the 1980s. While in the process of conducting this research, I found out that Christina Shea, Mayor of Irvine, was heavily involved in a homophobic organization during 1989, and that her involvement in this organization got her name on the political map in Irvine – leading to her become elected as a city councilor for the first time in 1992.

In 1988, the Irvine City Council unanimously approved its Human Rights Ordinance, which was meant to prevent discrimination “based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, physical handicap or sexual orientation.”1 In 1989, relying on help from Louis Sheldon, founder of the homophobic Traditional Values Coalition, Christina Shea, Michael Shea, and Scott Peotter founded the Irvine Values Coalition.2 The Irvine Values Coalition then gathered enough signatures to place a measure on the 1989 ballot, Measure N, which removed “sexual orientation” as a protected category under the Human Rights Ordinance, leaving the rest of the language of the Ordinance intact. 

While involved in this campaign:

• The Sheas gave over $5,000 ($10,480.56 today)3 to the Irvine Values Coalition.4
• Shea wrote several op-eds in the Los Angeles Times voicing her opinion on Measure N. In one, Shea claimed that the Human Rights Ordinance granted “special protection” to homosexuals – but not to any of the other protected groups included within it.5
• During the week of the 1989 election, Shea was paraphrased in the Orange County Register: “By acknowledging homosexuals as a minority in law, [Shea] said, the government is condoning a behavior that runs contrary to accepted moral beliefs that have run this country since its inception.”6
• The Sheas stated that they had a gay person in the family and “love[d] him very much.” But, Michael told the Los Angeles Times: “We don’t happen to agree with that lifestyle.”7
• Michael Shea told the Times after Measure N’s victory that “in my opinion and Christina’s opinion, [homosexuals] are neither unchangeable nor morally neutral…If you give minority status to behavior-based life styles, you open up a Pandora’s box – to smokers, drinkers, neo-Nazis if you will.”8

Measure N succeeded 52.5% to 47.5%,9 and the city of Irvine was forced to remove its sexual orientation protections.  Today, these protections are codified under California law. But at the time, they were extremely progressive; Irvine was one of the first cities in the country to adopt a law protecting sexual orientation. The damage that the Sheas, Peotter, and the Irvine Values Coalition did to the Irvine Human Rights Ordinance was only undone this July, when the Irvine City Council voted to repeal Measure N.

City Council Repeals Anti-LGBTQ Ordinance Previously Championed by Mayor

Irvine City Council Repeals Anti-LGBTQ Ordinance Previously Championed by Mayor Shea

On Tuesday (July 14th), the Irvine City Council finally repealed an anti-LGBTQ provision put into law by way of a nasty ballot initiative, in 1989, championed by then-Irvine resident and now Irvine’s unelected Mayor Christina Shea.

In 1988, then-Mayor Larry Agran crafted a bold Human Rights Ordinance, which protected the LGBTQ community from discrimination in housing, employment, and businesses open to the public.  The Ordinance was adopted by the City Council, making Irvine one of the first cities in the state to adopt such a progressive law.

Shea — who was already a well known right-wing activist — vowed to overturn Agran’s Human Rights Ordinance through an anti-LGBTQ ballot measure (Measure N).  Shea’s ballot measure was so extreme that it even banned the City from recognizing sexual orientation as a fundamental human right.  Measure N was passed by Irvine voters in 1989, 53% to 47%.

The July 14th motion to repeal Measure N was introduced by Councilmembers Melissa Fox and Farrah Khan.  In an accompanying memo, Councilmembers Fox and Khan stated, “(Sec. 3-5-501 through 503] is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution and in violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which explicitly prohibits discrimination against people based on ‘sexual orientation’.”

The Fox-Khan memo continued, “The provision in our city’s municipal code is not only unconstitutional and in violation of superseding state laws, but Irvine’s anti-LGBTQ ordinance is a cruel and embarrassing relic of a more prejudiced time.  The City of Irvine has a responsibility to ensure that all residents feel safe and welcome in our city — it is time to repeal and remove [Sec. 3-5-501 through 503] from the city’s municipal code.”

Just last year, the Council voted 3-2 against Councilmember Fox’s motion to fly the Pride Flag at City Hall, with Councilmember Mike Carroll stating, “Irvine does not need a spectacle of divisiveness.”  (Only Councilmember Khan supported Fox’s 2019 motion.)

This year, it took two Council meetings and lots of pushing from voters, but Fox’s motion to fly the Pride Flag finally passed 4-1 at the June 23rd Council meeting.  (Mayor Shea voted against the motion.)

And now, on July 14th, the Council voted to repeal Shea’s disgraceful anti-LGBTQ ordinance, which had remained on the books in Irvine for more than 30 years.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE: https://irvinecommunitynewsandviews.org/irvine-city-council-repeals-anti-lgbt-ordinance-previously-championed-by-mayor-shea/

Pro-LGBTQ laws outpaced anti-LGBTQ laws in 2018, report finds

The Human Rights Campaign’s annual State Equality Index found state bills advancing LGBTQ rights and protections outpaced those seeking to thwart them.
Feb. 10, 2019
By Julie Moreau

State bills advancing LGBTQ rights outpaced those seeking to thwart them in 2018, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ advocacy group.

Last year, 21 of the 201 pro-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures became law, while just two of the 110 anti-LGBTQ bills did, according to HRC’s recently released 2018 State Equality Index. Advocates of LGBTQ rights fared much better last year when compared to the year prior: In 2017, 129 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced and 12 were passed.

“The last several years, we have been facing an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the states,” Cathryn Oakley, the report’s co-author and HRC’s state legislative director, told NBC News, adding that 2018’s tally represented a “huge change” from previous years.

State bills advancing LGBTQ rights outpaced those seeking to thwart them in 2018, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign.Human Rights Campaign

In addition to keeping a tally of LGBTQ-related state bills, HRC’s State Equality Index also assigns each state an LGBTQ-equality grade.

“We had a record number of states who scored in our top category,” Oakley said. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia received the highest designation: Working Toward Innovative Equality. On the other end of the spectrum, 28 states received the lowest designation: High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality.

The rankings were based on an analysis of existing LGBTQ-related legislation in each state.

“The strength of the state-based LGBTQ movement is critical to elevate our representation, visibility and equality across the country,” according to Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of Equality Federation Institute, an LGBTQ advocacy organization that partnered with HRC to produce the report.. “As we look to the next legislative session, the State Equality Index should serve as a recognition of how far we have come and how much we have yet to achieve.”

Pro-LGBTQ Legislation

LGBTQ advocates on the state level made progress along several fronts, but nondiscrimination measures and “gay conversion therapy” bans were among the most prevalent, according to the report.

In New Hampshire, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law a bill that prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in housing, employment and public accommodations.

Hawaii passed a law banning discrimination on the basis of “sex,” including sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, in any state-funded educational program. Washington state prohibited discrimination against LGBTQ people in insurance plans.

Original article at NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/pro-lgbtq-laws-outpaced-anti-lgbtq-laws-2018-report-finds-n969826

OC Politician Says Gays Stole Rainbow From God

 

From LAist, July 8, 2015 by Danny Jensen

OC Politician Says Gays Stole Rainbow From God

One OC politician is slinging some serious allegations against gays: Newport Beach City Councilman Scott Peotter claims the "homosexual movement" stole the rainbow as a symbol from God and have corrupted it for their own use.

And now that he's catching major heat for criticizing the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage in an email blast to his constituents, Peotter sees himself as a victim in this crime.

In his bi-monthly newsletter, Peotter declares that the SCOTUS ruling "overturns 5,000 years of Judeo-Christian tradition, by redefining and allowing gay marriage," according to the L.A. Times. Also in the email, which bears the Newport Beach city seal, he shared this gem about his insight on rainbows, "I do find it interesting that the homosexual movement adopted the rainbow as their symbol, as it was God's symbol that he wouldn't destroy the world by flood again. And maybe they are wishful thinking [sic]."

You can read the full article about this gay hate at LAist here: https://laist.com/news/rainbows-for-god-not-gays