Mayor G.T. Bynum and the City Council expanded homosexual rights last week by passing a “hate crimes ordinance” that adds penalties to any crime in which a criminal expresses disdain for homosexuality.

The vote was unanimous.

Oklahoma already has a hate crimes law but it doesn’t give extra protection to homosexuals. Tulsa’s new ordinance adds penalties based on how a criminal feels about someone’s “gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.”

The new law is debatable affirmation that man can change into women and woman can change into men. Councilors believe that a person’s sex is up to them and it can change from day to day based on their mood.

Under this new ordinance, if a criminal mugs you in a kindly way and you are not a member of a minority, his or her sentence will be less than a criminal who mugs you and “hates” you for your gender, your national origin, your religion, a disability or your decision to be a homosexual.

Under the legal system, crimes are judged by actions, not by the attitude of the criminal. Hate can be very hard to prove and victims could claim to be homosexual when they are not.

City ordinances only count against misdemeanors. This new ordinance applies to assault and battery, vandalism, destruction of personal property and threats. Anyone convicted of a hate crime could be fined $1,000 and spend six months in jail.

Bynum and the councilors celebrated the renaming of a street “Pride Street” in Downtown.

Hate laws across the nation have been challenged because they seem to violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.