To the editors:

I read "Students Protest Transgender Deaths" (Dec. 11) with a growing sense of confusion. The concept of a "hate crime" is one which I have had problems with for some time. The death of Rita (William) Hester is without question a tragedy. However, I fail to see why Hester's gender should make her (his) death any more or less tragic. Murder is already illegal, and stigmatized by society about as much as possible. Creating a sliding scale based on motive for the severity of society's punishment for murders-or indeed for any crime-will not reduce the incidence of their commission.

The creation of special "hate crime" legislation seems only to be a rather roundabout way of promoting tolerance. As for social awareness, I suspect that the Boston Police are well aware of murders taking place within the city. Your article did not give any factual basis to the claims that "hate crimes against transgendered people have been ignored by the press". Given that this claim is apparently the sole reason for the student's activities, it would seem prudent to have substantiated it.

At some point we are going to have to decide that we are all in this together, and that equal treatment is not going to arise from deliberately created inequalities.