Equal protection under the law

To the editor:

If we are forbidden to discriminate because of gender, why is Carl Grant charged with a hate crime for slugging a homosexual who propositioned him? Is this different from a woman doing the same a man who propositioned her? Would she be charged with a hate crime? Would it be considered a hate crime if a man was slugged by a radical feminist? The Constitution guarantees equal protection under the law. How far we have fallen.

DAN JOHANNINGMEIER, Florissant, Mo.