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Nationwide, netroots activists are taking to their blogs in opposition to Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina's 5th District in response to her ignorance and insensitivity over comments she made in defending her stand against passage of the Federal Hate Crimes Legislation known as the Matthew Shepard Act (H.R 1913).

Backstory:

Ten years ago, Matthew Shepard, a gay, 21 year-old college student who stood 5’ 4” tall, and weighed just one hundred pounds, was lured out of a bar by two men claiming to be gay. He was robbed, pistol whipped, brutally beaten and tortured, and tied to a fence and left for dead until someone came by and found him in a coma eighteen hours later.

Wikipedia recounts the event:

“Shepard suffered a fracture from the back of his head to the front of his right ear. He had severe brain stem damage, which affected his body’s ability to regulate heart rate, body temperature and other vital signs. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. As he lay in intensive care, candlelight vigils were held by the people of Laramie.”

Recent:

On April 29, 2009, Rep. Foxx spoke before Congress, taking her stand in opposition the Matthew Shepard Act.

Her argument against the legislation (which ultimately passed the US House without GOP support) took an ugly turn when she insisted that calling the Shepard murder a hate crime was a "hoax", and that in truth it had amounted to nothing more than a simple robbery gone awry.

In her own words:

“The hate crimes bill that’s called the Matthew Shepard Bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn’t because he was gay. This – the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”

As if the lies spoken by Rep. Foxx weren't enough, the tragedy and insult of the situation was further compounded by the fact that the mother of the slain 21 yo, Judy Shepard, was seated in the balcony during the deliberations.

In response, a nation of netroots activists have taken up the challenge to work towards the defeat of Rep. Foxx at the ballotbox. Polls and statements of outrage against Rep. Foxx already adorn many progressive blogsites, and Twitter hastags "#" dedicated to raising awareness about Foxx are on the rise.

YouTube videos of Rep. Foxx's comments on the floor of Congress have gone viral, being given prime real estate on Progressive web sites everywhere. In fact, the swift action being taken in this regard clearly indicates that the public ire over the situation in not likely to wane any time soon.

Over at The New Civil Rights Movement, effort is underway to reach facebook users through a new group being called FireFoxx. This group alone has seen a swell of over 1000 fans in it's first 48 hours, and a poll of Twitter users sponsored by Blogger and Twitterer @davidbadash shows 89% are in favor of Rep. Foxx resigning as a result of this incident.

HRC puts the Spotlight on Rep. Foxx, has a Petition Drive in support of H.R 1913 going on at their End The Lies website.

These of course are just a snippet of what will turn up in response to a Google search of "Virginia Foxx"; a definite case of Open-Mouth-Insert-Hoof for this horses a$$ if ever we did see one.

We here at Queen City Woodcraft stand in complete unity with our fellow Progressives in denouncing the hatred and bigotry espoused by Rep. Foxx and her GOP couterparts, as well as the spate of 16 *conservadems* spawned from the Blue Dog conference that chose to side with these right-wing extremists in opposition to H.R 1913.

The time has come for America to shun the politics of bigotry, hatred, and intolerance, and rejoin the world in embracing the politics of fiarness, logic, and compassion.

For the record, here's a list of Democrats who voted against H.R. 1913:

Bright, Bobby (D-AL-2),

Griffith, Parker (D-AL-5)

Davis, Artur (D-AL-7)

Ross, Mike (D-AR-4)

Donnelly, Joe (D-IN-2)

Ellsworth, Brad (D-IN-8)

Melancon, Charles (D-LA-3)

Peterson, Collin (D-MN-7)

Childers, Travis (D-MS-1)

Taylor, Gene (D-MS-4)

Shuler, Heath (D-NC-11)

Boren, Dan (D-OK-2)

Carney, Christopher (D-PA-10)

Davis, Lincoln (D-TN-4)

Gordon, Barton (D-TN-6)

Tanner, John (D-TN-8)

The entire Congrsssional vote tally for H.R. 1913 can be viewed on the govtrack website.