NEWS BRIEFS: Hate crime bill stripped of LGBTQ, other protections 

By Sam Spence, special to Statehouse Report  |  South Carolina’s LGBTQ community may not be protected by a proposed hate crime law after a Republican-controlled S.C. House subcommittee stripped provisions that would strengthen penalties for crimes committed because of gender and sexual orientation, observers say.

As originally proposed, H.3620 calls for protections for people victimized because of their “race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability.” A House subcommittee unanimously approved an amendment Thursday that removed language related to sexual orientation, creed, gender, age and ancestry.

S.C. Rep. Chris Murphy, R-North Charleston, told a House Judiciary subcommittee the amendment was designed to give the bill a better chance of passing the House before the April 8 deadline to be considered in the Senate.

“I think this amendment will go a long way to alleviating a lot of the concerns of our membership,” Murphy said, not referring to any specific concerns.

Thursday’s move came as lawmakers in the House and Senate consider prohibitions on transgender youth participation in school sports and penalties for doctors who provide some medical care for transgender minors.

South Carolina is one of three states in the U.S. without a law that adds penalties for crimes motivated by hate. Over the past year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and statewide business groups like the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce have called for leaders to pass a hate crime law.

FBI statistics show about 17 percent of hate crimes committed in South Carolina in 2019 were motivated by sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, three of the protected classes removed with Murphy’s amendment Thursday.

“This is just disappointing,” said S.C. Rep. Beth Bernstein, D-Columbia, another bill sponsor, according to the Associated Press.

The Charleston-based Alliance for Full Acceptance said Thursday it would not put its support behind the proposed bill in its current form.

The bill heads to the full House Judiciary Committee next, where members could choose to reinstate its original language.

(Sam Spence is editor of the Charleston City Paper.)

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