The U.S. Senate unanimously adopted the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill. This means its fate is tied to whether the president will veto the bill because it also includes funding for F-22 fighter jets, which he opposes. The NAACP announced a partnership with National […]
Another week of political milestones: The Hate Crimes Bill, aka the Matthew Shepard Act, aka the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, passed the House. It would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the categories covered by federal hate crimes laws. The bill now moves to the Senate. President Obama has expressed his
Judy Shepard, mother of murdered student Matthew Shepard, was on The Rachel Maddow Show last night talking about the Hate Crimes bill, aka the Matthew Shepard Act, and about North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx’s statement that to call her son’s murder a hate crime is a “hoax.” No mother should ever have to go through
The U.S. House will vote on the Matthew Shepard Act, aka the Hate Crimes Bill, aka the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act tomorrow. HRC reports that the far right is “flooding Congress with calls, emails and sickening ‘fact sheets’ claiming that sexual orientation means criminal acts like bestiality and necrophilia, and that this
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted 15-12 to advance the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (H.R. 1913), aka the Matthew Shepard Act. The bill now goes up for a full House floor vote, which could happen next week. John Berry was officially sworn in as director of the Office of Personnel
