Story highlights Court says the word "sex" is unambiguous

More than two dozen attempts to change the hate crime law fell through

(CNN) The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals this week ruled anti-gay assaults are not covered in the state's hate crimes law. The decision came down to the definition of one word: sex.

How the case played out

Prosecutors in Cabell County alleged that Steward Butler in April 2015 was riding in the car with some friends in Huntington when he saw two men kiss on the sidewalk. Butler allegedly "voiced homophobic slurs toward" the men, exited the vehicle and punched both of them, knocking one to the ground.

The next month, a grand jury indicted Butler on two counts of battery and two counts of violating an individual's civil rights.

Butler challenged the civil rights charges and those were dismissed by a circuit court after "concluding that the word 'sex' in the West Virginia legal code was plain and unambiguous and could not be expanded to include 'sexual orientation."

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