There is a difference between a hate crime and the clowns who call everything a hate crime. The label is no different than the issues of calling anyone a racist every time you don't agree with their positions.  Just becasue someone misuses a term does not mean the correct use of the term is wrong and should be no longer uses. 

When the primary reason an individual or group of individuals acts against a person or persons simply becasue of race or religion I say identifying those actions as a hate crime is appropriate.