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A petition to amend North Carolina hate crime laws, created by the victims of a recent high-profile assault, has gained more than 3,000 signatures.
The petition was created by Sarabeth Nordstrom and junior exercise science major Erin Johnston. Nordstrom and Johnston were hospitalized after an assault that occurred Feb. 11 and both believe the perpetrator was motivated by perceived sexual orientation.
The petition is hosted on the advocacy website change.org and is directed toward the N.C. State Legislature. It requests a change in state law to define crimes motivated by sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity as hate crimes.
“We want to make a change,” Johnston said. “Not just for us, but for everyone.”
Currently, the state law which addresses hate crimes, N.C. General Statute 14-3, only applies to categories of “race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin.”
For many students who signed the petition, the absence of sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity in the statute is troubling.
“The hate crime laws in place now protect everyone who is a victim of a race-related hate crime or a religious-based hate crime, yet do not protect the LGBT community,” senior English major Sarah Winebarger said. “I’m all about fairness, and if the laws protect one sect of people, then I think they should protect all.”
Other students, like junior psychology major Aby Stoner, were thinking of their own loved ones.
“I have several very close non-heterosexual friends and I can’t help but think about, if an assault like this were to happen to them, I would want the person that did it behind bars for committing a hate crime,” Stoner said.
Both Nordstrom and Johnston hope the petition will make its way to the legislature, but whatever happens, the results have already exceeded their expectations. Both expected about 200 signatures when they started the petition, Johnston said.
“The support and the attention that it’s getting is crazy,” Nordstrom said. “To see that kind of support, it’s humbling.”
Nordstrom and Johnston plan to speak about their experience at “Stop the Hate, Show the Love: A Night of Hate Crime Awareness,” which will be held Friday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Grandfather Ballroom.
To access the petition, visit change.org/petitions/amend-nc-hate-crime-laws.
Story: MEGHAN FRICK, Associate Editor, Editorial Content |
