Matthew Shepard Act is getting closer!

[Hwy99]

Senate Passage of Hate Crimes Bill Moves Bill Closer Than Ever To Becoming Law

9/27/2007

WASHINGTON– In an historic step toward equality for GLBT Americans, the U.S. Senate voted to pass the Matthew Shepard Act, which updates and expands the federal hate crimes laws to include bias motivated violence based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability, and provides new resources and tools to assist local law enforcement in prosecuting vicious crimes.

"For over a decade our community has worked tirelessly to ensure protections to combat violence motivated by hate and today we are the closest we have ever been to seeing that become a reality," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Congress has taken an historic step forward and moved our country closer to the realization that all Americans, including the GLBT community, are part of the fabric of our nation. The new leadership in Congress fully understands that for too long our community has been terrorized by hate violence. And today, the US Senate has sent a clear message to every corner of our country that we will no longer turn a blind eye to anti-gay violence in America."

The Senate in a bipartisan vote of 60 to 39 accepted cloture which ended debate on the bill and then moved to approve the Matthew Shepard Act by a voice vote -- attaching it as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Authorization bill.

On May 3rd, the House of Representatives passed a companion bill, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1592), with a strong bipartisan margin of 237 to 180. Twenty-six state Attorneys General, including 23 from states with anti-hate crimes laws already on the books, as well as 230 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations support the Matthew Shepard Act and the LLEHCPA because, despite progress toward equality in almost all segments of our society, hate crimes continue to spread fear and violence and local law enforcement often lack the tools and resources to prevent and prosecute them. Some of these supporting organizations include the National Sheriffs Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 26 state attorneys general, the National District Attorneys Association, the NAACP, the Episcopal Church, the League of Women Voters, the Anti-Defamation League, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the YWCA of the USA and the United Methodist Church.

The President has threatened to veto the legislation, calling it "unnecessary." According to the FBI, 25 Americans each day are victims of hate crimes–that means approximately one hate crime is committed every hour. One in six hate crimes are motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation. It’s time to update the law to protect everyone, and this year marks our best chance yet to get it done.

"Hate crimes terrorize entire communities and violate America’s core democratic principles that all citizens are created equal and are afforded equal protection under the law," continued Solmonese. "On behalf of the millions of Americans who have waited too long for these critical protections, we urge President Bush to sign the bill when it arrives on his desk."

The hate crimes amendment was introduced by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR). It confers authority on the federal government to investigate and prosecute crimes committed against victims solely because of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability when local officials are unwilling or unable to do so. It also expands existing federal hate crimes law to improve prosecution of bias-motivated crimes based on race, religious, national origin and color and provides additional resources to local law enforcement.

HRC | Senate Passage of Hate Crimes Bill Moves Bill Closer Than Ever To Becoming Law

Hopefully this win!!!

 

[Miss-Delectable]

Sound hopeful. Let's hope the politicians will be open-minded enough to pledge their vote and make this a law.

 

[Foxrac]

Congrat, let kill AFA, most infamous anti-gay organization.

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

*keeps fingers, legs, and toes crossed*

I hope the Matthew Shepard Act gets passed! When I heard what happened to Matthew, I was so sad. Poor guy. He did not deserve to die like that, to suffer like that, for being gay. I wish I could give his parents a hug. They have suffered so much from their son's death. I watched the Laramie Project. I liked what Christina Ricci (the actress in the movie, forgot her character name) did at Matthew Shepard's funeral with the sheet angels...I thought it was nice to block out the protestors (Rev. Fred Phelps, etc). Matthew's parents and family and friends did not need to see and deal with the protestors at the funeral, it is very disrespectful.

 

[Hwy99]

*keeps fingers, legs, and toes crossed*

I hope the Matthew Shepard Act gets passed! When I heard what happened to Matthew, I was so sad. Poor guy. He did not deserve to die like that, to suffer like that, for being gay. I wish I could give his parents a hug. They have suffered so much from their son's death. I watched the Laramie Project. I liked what Christina Ricci (the actress in the movie, forgot her character name) did at Matthew Shepard's funeral with the sheet angels...I thought it was nice to block out the protestors (Rev. Fred Phelps, etc). Matthew's parents and family and friends did not need to see and deal with the protestors at the funeral, it is very disrespectful.

Yupp Matthew did not deserve to be killed at all. I felt so sorry for his family and himself too, I agree with your post all the way.

 

[Hwy99]

I think I am going to add this to this thread so people can know what Matthew Shepard Act are. Here's what I found from Wikipedia.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (LLEHCPA; sometimes called the Matthew Shepard Act), HR 1592, would expand the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The bill would also:

remove the current prerequisite that the victim be engaging in a federally-protected activity, like voting or going to school;

give federal authorities greater ability to engage in hate crimes investigations that local authorities choose not to pursue;

provide $10 million in funding for 2008 and 2009 to help State and local agencies pay for investigating and prosecuting hate crimes;

require the FBI to track statistics on hate crimes against transgender people (statistics for the other groups are already tracked).

Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Reba]

No one "deserves" to be murdered. Why do we need a new law? It is currently illegal to physically assault or murder people, gay, straight or otherwise.

If someone is killed for "love" or "don't care" instead of "hate" is that any less painful or lethal?

Murder is murder and should be prosecuted regardless of the motive.

I don't see any reason for passing this law.

 

[MetroGuy03]

I hope they will pass that law.

The president Bush who wants to veto against this bill is huge homophobic coward period!

Reba,

I am not sure if you're aware that many states cops don't really do anything about gay bashing or hate crime against gays. The cops saw the incidents, they just stand there and let it to happen to people. Most of them who did this think that gays do deserves it.That is very wrong of them. That is very common in southern/midwest states for the last few decades. Sometime it happen in west coast and east coast. This law will help stop from happening again. President Bush better pass this law!

 

[Hwy99]

No one "deserves" to be murdered. Why do we need a new law? It is currently illegal to physically assault or murder people, gay, straight or otherwise.

If someone is killed for "love" or "don't care" instead of "hate" is that any less painful or lethal?

Murder is murder and should be prosecuted regardless of the motive.

I don't see any reason for passing this law.

Well there is no FBI track of transgender victims. Also the law that we are having right now does NOT include the gender identify so the transgender is the only group that are actually LEGAL to discriminate. There is 60 percent of transgender that had been murdered by hate crime.

Ok for example, Gwen Ajaruo(sp?) a transgender teenage girl was victim of massive beating up and end up death, those guys who killed her was only in the jail for 5 years and their family only earn $5,000. When those guys come out of the jail, they can vote, they can go to school.

Do you STILL want those guys to vote and go to school? Of course not, they absolutely don't deserve to vote and go to school while they murder our American folks with hate crime, giving us the bad names. We don't like that kind of stuff here in America.

This bill HAVE to be passed. My opinion, it's very wrong for the FBI to refuse to track the number of transgenders that are murder by the hate crime, refuse to include the gender identify in the Anti-Discrimination law, refuse to expand the law against the hate crime.

Plus this law will help us to feel safe to express ourselves.

I hope they will pass that law.

The president Bush who wants to veto against this bill is huge homophobic coward period!

Reba,

I am not sure if you're aware that many states cops don't really do anything about gay bashing or hate crime against gays. The cops saw the incidents, they just stand there and let it to happen to people. Most of them who did this think that gays do deserves it.That is very wrong of them. That is very common in southern/midwest states for the last few decades. Sometime it happen in west coast and east coast. This law will help stop from happening again. President Bush better pass this law!

Yupp total agree with you!

 

[Reba]

I hope they will pass that law.

The president Bush who wants to veto against this bill is huge homophobic coward period!

Reba,

I am not sure if you're aware that many states cops don't really do anything about gay bashing or hate crime against gays. The cops saw the incidents, they just stand there and let it to happen to people. Most of them who did this think that gays do deserves it.That is very wrong of them. That is very common in southern/midwest states for the last few decades. Sometime it happen in west coast and east coast. This law will help stop from happening again. President Bush better pass this law!

If cops aren't doing their jobs, then they need to be disciplined.

If cops are ignoring the present laws about assault, what makes you think they would obey laws about hate crimes? If there are cops who are bad apples, then they need to be gone. We don't need new laws. We need enforcement of the laws we have.

 

[Reba]

Well there is no FBI track of transgender victims. Also the law that we are having right now does NOT include the gender identify so the transgender is the only group that are actually LEGAL to discriminate. There is 60 percent of transgender that had been murdered by hate crime.

Do you mean that 60% of all transgender people have been murdered? Where did you get that figure? (Especially if the FBI isn't tracking them.)

Ok for example, Gwen Ajaruo(sp?) a transgender teenage girl was victim of massive beating up and end up death, those guys who killed her was only in the jail for 5 years and their family only earn $5,000. When those guys come out of the jail, they can vote, they can go to school.

Injustices happen to non-transgender victims also. There are many cases where jail sentences aren't strict enough for the perps. I don't think a hate crime law will solve the court problem.

No, I don't support killers having the right to vote. Most felons lose their right to vote, and that's the way it should be.

 

[nozobo]

I do sincerely hoping that this law WILL GET PASSED!

I recently got transferred to Sam's Club from a pos Walmart. I'm much happier how and jump the gun out of closet to coworker, now they know I'm easy to get along with them!

 

[Hwy99]

Do you mean that 60% of all transgender people have been murdered? Where did you get that figure? (Especially if the FBI isn't tracking them.)

I have been looking everywhere around the internet and I seems can't find it but this is the best I can find.

Transgendered people may experience greater disparities than any other group in being the victims of violence. And transgendered people have been excluded from almost every hate crime bill, whether at the Federal, State or local level.6 (Only four states have included transgendered people in their hate crimes laws—Minnesota (1993), California (1998), Vermont (2000), and Missouri (2000).7) The first major study on violence and discrimination against transgendered people in the United States8 found that 60 percent experienced some form of harassment and/or violence sometime during their lives, and 37 percent experienced some form of economic discrimination.9

trans-health.com: WHAT WE DON’T KNOW: The Unaddressed Health Concerns of the Transgendered

And other I found there is 31 percent of transgender commit suicide.

Rather the Transsexuals here have the problem that our external sex doesn't match our mind sex. Those who are TS either Male to Female (MTF) or Female to Male (FTM) go through extreme depression, confusion, suicidal thoughts, horribly low self esteem, hatred and taunts, discrimination of all kinds. Worse yet some suffer violence bad enough to result in serious injury or even death. Our pre-op suicide rate runs 31% from some estimates. Over 50% of TS teens will have had at least one suicide attempt by their 20th birthday. A Gender Therapist claims that the suicide rate is 9 times above the average. No matter who's right they all agree that its the highest for any group. Most Transsexual people have at least thought of suicide if not actually trying it.

Transsexual Support, Transexuals, TS, Tranny, Web Site. Transsexuals are from Venus too. mtf, ftm

Injustices happen to non-transgender victims also. There are many cases where jail sentences aren't strict enough for the perps. I don't think a hate crime law will solve the court problem.

But it will help reduce the hate crime.

No, I don't support killers having the right to vote. Most felons lose their right to vote, and that's the way it should be.

Then support this hate crime law.

 

[MetroGuy03]

If cops aren't doing their jobs, then they need to be disciplined.

If cops are ignoring the present laws about assault, what makes you think they would obey laws about hate crimes? If there are cops who are bad apples, then they need to be gone. We don't need new laws. We need enforcement of the laws we have.

Honey, many people fought against these dirty cops but the government always on the cops side no matter how bad liars they are.

We DO need a new law to protect gays and transgenders. It is easy for you to say that because you have no clue what they went though.

 

[Foxrac]

I hope they will pass that law.

The president Bush who wants to veto against this bill is huge homophobic coward period!

Reba,

I am not sure if you're aware that many states cops don't really do anything about gay bashing or hate crime against gays. The cops saw the incidents, they just stand there and let it to happen to people. Most of them who did this think that gays do deserves it.That is very wrong of them. That is very common in southern/midwest states for the last few decades. Sometime it happen in west coast and east coast. This law will help stop from happening again. President Bush better pass this law!

If Bush does veto it then he have no heart for Matthew Shepard too.

 

[Foxrac]

I do sincerely hoping that this law WILL GET PASSED!

I recently got transferred to Sam's Club from a pos Walmart. I'm much happier how and jump the gun out of closet to coworker, now they know I'm easy to get along with them!

Oh cool, one of co-worker said Sam's Club is good workplace, plus seems better than wal-mart, both of them are same company, you know that but different background and retail type.

 

[Reba]

If Bush does veto it then he have no heart for Matthew Shepard too.

If Bush vetoes the bill, it has nothing to do with having or not having a heart for anyone. It's just a bad bill.

 

[Reba]

Honey, many people fought against these dirty cops but the government always on the cops side no matter how bad liars they are.

If that's what you believe, then how do you think a new law will be enforced any better than the current laws? The law might be new but the people in law enforcement and the courts will be the same people.

We DO need a new law to protect gays and transgenders. It is easy for you to say that because you have no clue what they went though.

I'm not saying that they didn't experience harrassment or attacks. What I'm saying is, a new law just for one group of people is not the right way to solve it.

All people should be protected equally, and punished equally, by the current laws. We should NOT have separate laws for each group of people.

If my friend gets beaten up by someone, I want that attacker's butt thrown in jail for a long time. Does it matter if my friend is gay, transgender, or straight? Does it matter if the attacker is gay, transgender, or straight? NO! My friend suffered pain, and the attacker needs to be punished. Period.

 

[Reba]

I have been looking everywhere around the internet and I seems can't find it but this is the best I can find.

Quote:
Transgendered people may experience greater disparities than any other group in being the victims of violence. And transgendered people have been excluded from almost every hate crime bill, whether at the Federal, State or local level.6 (Only four states have included transgendered people in their hate crimes laws—Minnesota (1993), California (1998), Vermont (2000), and Missouri (2000).7) The first major study on violence and discrimination against transgendered people in the United States8 found that 60 percent experienced some form of harassment and/or violence sometime during their lives, and 37 percent experienced some form of economic discrimination.9

"Some form of harassment and/or violence" isn't the same as 60% being killed.

trans-health.com: WHAT WE DON’T KNOW: The Unaddressed Health Concerns of the Transgendered
And other I found there is 31 percent of transgender commit suicide.

Do you really believe a hate crime law will change that?

But it will help reduce the hate crime.

How? Will it prevent hate? Isn't that the root problem? How do you change people's hearts, beliefs and attitudes?

Then support this hate crime law.

That has nothing to do with changing police and court procedures.

How do you legislate emotions? You can't.

You can legislate behavior. We already have laws against assault and murder. That is a behavior. If you don't believe transgender people are getting a fair shake with police and the courts, then that's where the effort is needed. Creating a new law that won't get enforced, or gets enforced selectively or incorrectly, won't help anyone.

 

[Hwy99]

If that's what you believe, then how do you think a new law will be enforced any better than the current laws? The law might be new but the people in law enforcement and the courts will be the same people.

The present law against the hate law does not require to remove a qulity person's right to vote or go to the school. This new law expand it as requirement consquences for the hate criminals, if this law was passed, the police can't reject to remove hate criminals's rights to vote or go to school, period. That is why this new law is so important.

I'm not saying that they didn't experience harrassment or attacks. What I'm saying is, a new law just for one group of people is not the right way to solve it.

All people should be protected equally, and punished equally, by the current laws. We should NOT have separate laws for each group of people.

If my friend gets beaten up by someone, I want that attacker's butt thrown in jail for a long time. Does it matter if my friend is gay, transgender, or straight? Does it matter if the attacker is gay, transgender, or straight? NO! My friend suffered pain, and the attacker needs to be punished. Period.

Hmm... I recommend you to re-read my post from Wikipedia about the new law. It says:

"The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (LLEHCPA; sometimes called the Matthew Shepard Act), HR 1592, would expand the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

This is not for only one group, but other groups such like racist, sexism, etc. This is about the Hate Crime Law, not just for GLBT community.