The U.S. House of Representatives has taken steps to expand existing federal hate-crimes law--which currently protects people based on race, color, religion and national origin--to also protect people based on their actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. By a vote of 249-175, the House passed The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, known more commonly as the Matthew Shepard Act. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
If it passes in the Senate, President Barack Obama says he'll sign the bill into law.
Obama said in a statement: "I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil-rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance--legislation that will enhance civil-rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association. I also urge the Senate to work with my administration to finalize this bill and to take swift action."
Other key components of the House bill:
•Eliminate the requirement that a hate crime must occur in a public setting such as a polling location or public school
•Give the U.S. Department of Justice authority to take over suspected hate crimes when local officials can't or won't handle the cases
•Require the FBI to track hate crimes against transgender people
What's Being Said About the Bill?
•Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.: "We know that man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. The hate-crimes bill was named for him, [but] it's really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."
•Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign: "All Americans are one step closer to protection from hate violence thanks to today's vote. Hate crimes are a scourge on our communities, and it's time we give law enforcement the tools they need to combat this serious problem. The Senate should heed the president's leadership and quickly pass the Matthew Shepard Act. After more than 10 years and tens of thousands of victims, there should be no delay in passing this bill into law. This is the eighth successful vote on a federal hate-crimes bill which--following a veto threat from former President Bush--died in the last Congress. Fair-minded leaders in Congress have for years stood strong against lies about the bill and we are grateful for their efforts. The leadership of Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer and Majority Whip Clyburn as well as Reps. Conyers, Kirk, Baldwin, Frank, and Polis made this incredible victory possible."
•Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard: "No one should face violence simply because of who they are. This bill is a critical step to erasing the hate that has devastated far too many families."
This hate-crimes bill has been floating around Washington since 2007, when it was first introduced in the House. While there had been enough votes for passage then, it never made its way past the Senate because then-President George W. Bush had said he'd veto the bill if it came to his desk--which was combined with a Defense Department funding bill.
Click the arrow to watch the video.
Click the arrow to watch the video.
Readers' Comments
Your opinions and thoughts...
Posted Thursday Apr 30, 2009 by
Guest;
As a retired homocide detective I have never understood the term hate crime? All crimes are acts of hate; whether it is black on black, white on black, gay on gay or any other combination. Murder is wrong; I really wish that we would stop concentrating so much on legislation and focus on ways that we can positively impact these young men during their formative years so that they will not grow up so filled with rage. There are no such thing as a love crime? They are all deeply rooted in hate; the vast majority of these killers have themselves so they can never love anyone else..
Posted Thursday Apr 30, 2009 by
Guest;
Hate crimes are intended to intimidate a whole group of people. That's the difference from other crimes..
Posted Thursday Apr 30, 2009 by
Guest;
One reason hate crimes are different from other crimes are because they pose a threat to every other individual who is part of the group that was targeted. It sends a message to these members of society that they are marginal and they better watch their step. When some people target other people simply because of the group they belong to, everyone in our society suffers for it because of this message. As a gay person, when I hear someone was beaten up outside a gay bar because they were gay, I feel like I am more vunerable. And I feel like other people may think that kind of behavior is okay because it was just a "gay" person. Same for any group that gets mistreated by the mainstream..
Posted Thursday Apr 30, 2009 by
Guest;
After hearing Virginia Foxx speak about Matthew Shepard's name being used on legislation to strengthen hate crime laws, I'm absolutely shocked that people would vote for her. It's that type of ignorance that makes protecting our LGBT friends and loved ones so necessary. .
Posted Sunday May 3, 2009 by
Guest;
Crime is crimes but when you kill someone because the are not like you there is something wrong with you more than a person that kills for money. AND FOR THIS PERSON FOXX IF IT WAS HER CHILD I DO NOT THINK SHE WOULD BE SO BOLD TO SAY WHAT SHE SAID AND SHE NEED TO GET HER FACTS TOGATHER AND PEOPLE VOTED FOR HER .
Posted Sunday May 17, 2009 by
Guest;
No, Virginia Foxx, we DON'T know that Shepard was killed in the commission of a robbery and that the hate-crime statement is a hoax. What we DO know is that you represent an area that is homophobic and that you bring that to your job as you try to make a name for yourself and hope for reelection or the moving on to a higher political office. YOU'RE the hoax for continuing to try to disrupt the nation's movement towards a better equality. .
Posted Monday May 25, 2009 by
Guest;
I find it quite interesting that Virginia Fox appears to be making a case, based on the 'reason' Matthew Shepard was targeted and subsequently murdered. i.e. 'If he was murdered in the commission of a robbery...or...this was not a hate crime.' What? Okay. I understand that she is an opponent of the legislation. I am not gay and have not read the bill, but am quite sure that murder is murder, crime is crime, and dead is dead. Perhaps, she meant to say something else and lost her notes.I agree with Anthony Smith, above, that 'love crimes' are non-existent. All crime is hate crime, whether opportunistic or premeditated (despite the perpetrator's definition). (Although, self-defense sometimes gets lumped into this category, as well)I do understand the history of why hate crime legislation was necessary in the first place, and how minority populations (Latino/Latina, Black/African-American, etc.) are viewed by some as unworthy of existence. Legislation moved the hate to a more undercover, sometimes subliminal practice, and in some cases, it became more public.Somehow, I am saddened that we even have to discuss whether abusing and murdering someone, because he or she is different (regardless of what the difference is) than you or I, is right or wrong.We have to exact laws to prevent us from killing each other and stealing each other's belongings. Of course, we already know what would happen without them--just based on what's happening now, even with laws already in place. .
Posted Wednesday May 27, 2009 by
Guest;
Rep Foxx is from the mountain area of NC. The mountain area is much more conservative than the rest of NC. Conservatives are like Mrs Foxx across the board--Rush Limbaugh, Jesse Helms, who has departed this world and who too was from NC and the many others that we hear ranting and raving these days on the radio and on TV. No, not all NC Carolinians feel as does Mrs Fox. They feel in that district that she represents---they voted for her. Barrack Obama took NC. He took this state because not all of it is conservative. If it were just a robbery, Matthew Sheppard would not have been so tortured and that is what Mrs Foxx does not get. It may have started out as a robbery or may have resulted in a robbery but attached to that crime was HATE. Robbers do not torture their victims as a rule and thumb. All these people talking about all murders being HATE simply do not understand. Some criminals just kill to get what they want but others kill for no other reason but HATE. The police officer---he should know better but again he is probably not very concerned with equality and understanding HATE. He probably does not care whether HATE is right or wrong. He is right however to some extent there are a lot murders that are HATE. Murders of girlfriends, and husbands, and wives, and often children and sometimes friends or next neighbors are certainly hate crimes but it a different kind of hate. In these cases it is limited to that person who they are anger with. HATE that involves categorizing people as less than oneself is more intense and it spreads from generation to generation and from family member to family member and neighbor to neighbor. It hostility 24 hours a day that explodes into murder when enough of like minded people are together. It is infectious. It almost always takes a group to have courage enough to commit HATE murder. It most often involves a group committing the crime---plotting it and executing it. The group often consists of fathers, brothers, uncles, and cousins as well neighbors, employers, ministers, doctors and others. Yes, HATE is a separate kind of crime. When we talk of a HATE crime it is a crime that resulted as a HATE way of life. Hating a group of people or groups of people who for no other reason than they are different than oneself. That Police Officer, I think he understands---he is just trying justifying how he too feels. He probably feels that it is OK to torture some groups of people randomly because they are different from the majority. .
