First off, I'll say that the site only showed PepsiCo's contributions to the Gay/Lesbian causes. What it did NOT show were PepsiCo's contributions to any OTHER causes...which are many, as turned up by my simple Google search. So as usual, this this organization is complaining about PepsiCo's donations to
something they don't like, excluding the information about donations to things they DO like. Sigh.
However, to address the questions:
1. Do you believe that any one organization can protest the law-abiding actions of others..... and threaten their livelihood?
1A: It's free speech. You can protest anything you want; it doesn't make you right to protest, and as long as you're not libeling or slandering (which are against the law) you are well within your rights to do so. However as far as the law is concerned, if this campaign actually hurt PepsiCo's sales, they might be able to make a case against the organization and claim damages.
2. Do you believe this site unfairly identifies homosexual men and women as targets and encourages the general public to be biased and discriminate against them?
2A: No more than any other site that focuses on one thing and finds some references to back up the position. And actually, after a re-read, it doesn't make statements against homosexuals, only against PepsiCo.
3. the issue that homosexuals unfairly benefit from hate crime legislation, that is, someone could be charged with a hate crime, even if 'hate' had nothing to do with their motiovation, resulting in an unfairly-harsh punishment.
Hate crime laws are a series of laws which inflict more severe penalties if identifiable racial, religious or social minorities are victimized specifically for their status.
(Click here for more info)
Do you believe such laws are unfair... or justified?
3A: Hate crimes....we could have several threads' worth of discussion just on these. IMO crimes are crimes. If you attack a person because they are ___________, is it more of a crime than if you just attacked them, or attacked them because they spit on you? Therein lies the debate. If you simply hate a __________ person and punch them, burn them, or stab them on sight, what makes your more guilty than some psychopath that punches, burns or stabs someone because they looked at him wrong? Society puts too much emphasis on motivation, rather than action taken. Punish what is done, not why it is done.