RICH: I am part Native American. Hate crimes legislation is a high priority for me. Not all hate crimes are murder or result in severe bodily injury. Some are burglary, burnings of property, or other relatively minor crimes. We need to make a statement as a nation that crimes against persons of a different race, sexual orientation, or religious belief, based upon that difference, are Un-American and will not be tolerated as a matter of public policy and law.

Civil law can also express hatred against classes of "different" persons. Any such civil law is Un-American and likewise will not be tolerated as a matter of public policy and civil law. Separate but equal public schools is a well-known example of discriminatory civil law. (Top of Page)

Marriage: I favor establishing civil unions for homosexuals that provide the financial and civil law benefits of marriage to the partners. To have those benefits in full at the earliest time possible it would be wise to forego the symbolic legal name of "marriage" to bypass the great offense felt by some heterosexuals who see "marriage" as an inviolable religious sacrament. Make the benefits available now, to the persons who want them, without further rancorous delay. (Top of Page)

Those churches where homosexual unions have been ruled acceptable could legally offer religious "marriage" to couples of all sexual lifestyles. All couples would retain the right to a "civil union" with equal rights under the law. Since "marriage" is a religious sacrament or ceremony, perhaps no further civil issue of "marriage" licenses would be allowed, in order to preserve the separation of church and state indicated in the first amendment. The only license provided by a state would be for a "civil union." Everyone who wanted to sanctify their "civil union" as a "marriage" would do so in their own church. "Render unto God those things that are God's and unto Caesar those things that are Caesar's."