• On April 29, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 249-175 in favor of the Local Law Enforcement and Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1913). The bill will give state and local law enforcement agents the tools and resources to prevent and prosecute hate crimes. The current federal hate crimes law only authorizes federal aid in cases of hate committed because of a person’s race, color, religion, or national origin. H.R. 1913 will add to that list gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The bill is supported by more than 300 law enforcement and civil rights organizations. Also in support of the bill is U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), who during debate on the bill, said: “Bias-motivated crimes based on sexual orientation have more than tripled since the FBI began collecting hate crimes statistics almost 20 years ago. But our law enforcement agencies still have no authority to assist communities dealing with even the most brutal crimes committed against our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender neighbors and friends.” Capps highlighted the importance of passing such a bill by memorializing the life of Lawrence King, the Southern California eighth-grader who was shot and killed by another student because he identified himself as gay.
This article appears in May 7-14, 2009.
