I don't think that you can libel or slander someone but it is pretty loosely enforced. I think "Hate Crimes" are just another form of fascism.

I think the following by the founder of my school expresses my sentiment exactly:

"We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." --Thomas Jefferson to William Roscoe, 1820