Hate Crimes

* Just days after Matthew Shepard was beaten and burned, tied to a fence and left to die a slow death--an attack motivated by the fact that he was gay--I read “Court Deals Gay Rights a Setback” and “Dissent Blocks Tougher Hate Crime Laws” (Oct. 14). When will lawmakers get it?

In the latter story, Andrea Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition asks, “Is that poor boy any more dead because he was homosexual?” Matthew is dead only because he was homosexual. That is the point she missed, because she cannot see past her irrational fear that federal hate crime legislation is “a way of legitimizing homosexual activity.” When will the Christian right get it?

MICHAEL DAVIES

Costa Mesa

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* How dare Robert Scheer (Column Left, Oct. 13) blame Christians for Shepard’s death! Civilized persons of any religion, or no religion, are shocked and outraged by his murder. Murder involves many misguided emotions, including hate and anger. Many of the same emotions that Scheer was spewing toward “the religious right” in his column. It’s time to quit using Shepard’s tragedy to make a political point.

THOMAS HILL

West Hollywood