Don't worry, God, it's not like she tried to get married or anything

I accidentally hit "reply" to your post, Damon, when I meant to enter it as a new one. I agree, homophobic hate crimes are jumping up, as are racist crimes against Latinos due to the xenophobic hysteria attached to immigration reform. But there is another bigotry that is growing even more violent and I believe it played a factor in this horrific crime against this woman: misogyny.

I believe if they had no idea she was a lesbian, they still would have raped her because of misogyny, yet it would have never been marked as a potential hate crime even in states with gender as a factor in their legislation. You can kidnap, rape, and murder a girl on the basis of gender alone in WA where there is legislation against gender hate crimes and never be charged in a hate crime, yet if you assault a person on the basis of any other factor, you will be. That's how hated the life of a woman or girl is: assault upon an adult due to non-misogynistic bigotry is (rightly) considered heinous; raping and murdering an innocent child solely due to misogyny is whitewashed as a generic crime or worse, one rooted in "sexuality" and, thus, somehow instinctive, natural.

Even calling such anti-female violence, "violence against women" frames it as generic violence that happens to harm women (no mention of girls), failing to highlight the cause of such violence: bigotry. No other bigoted violence is framed as such. There is no "violence against gay adults," it's "anti-gay" or "homophobic violence." But this is all part of our cultural efforts to wipe away any blaming of misogyny, instead having it widely viewed as "normal" or "natural" (think: misogynistic slurs treated as common profanity; rape "jokes" called frank, sexual banter or just vulgarity). Just today, CNN reported that a former Clinton official was arrested on charges of possessing "child porn," which sexualizes child rape since most people think of "porn" as raunchy, sexual fun. Honestly, which framing would pedophiles prefer: "child rape images" or something that sounds like "junior porn?" The young girls involved are not referred to as being orally raped by adult men, but "engaging in sexual conduct with an adult male" and "performing oral sex," implying consent. And that's the language from a government official. A woman no less.

Over the past two years, we have seen how openly our culture celebrates violent anti-female hate. You have to think back to Jim Crow to see something somewhat similar. And now HRW highlights how a new government report shows that over the course of these past two years, misogynistic hate crimes have jumped to staggering levels:

A new government report showing huge increases in the incidences of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault over a two-year period in the United States deserves immediate attention from lawmakers and the incoming administration, Human Rights Watch said today. The statistics show a 42-percent increase in reported domestic violence and a 25-percent increase in the reported incidence of rape and sexual assault.

Misogyny, no matter how violent or extreme, continues to be intentionally ignored or worshiped and adored as natural, entertaining ("Harmless fun!"), or justified. And that's just by the supposed "feminists" and the "good guys."

*