Fri. July 17, 2009
Washington, DC -
With five Republican Senators joining Democrats, the Senate Thursday evening agreed to the attachment of the Matthew Shepard Bill (S. 909) to the defense authorization bill on a vote of 63-28.
The bill is subject to modification proposals, but any substantive change is unlikely. Attachment of this bill to the defense spending plan will almost insure its adoption by both the House and Senate.
Reached today by ChicagoPride.com, Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL), a co-sponsor of the bill, issued the following statement: "Matthew Shepard was not just a young gay man. He was every young gay man. The legislation that passed the Senate last night is a strong first step toward protecting members of the LGBT community who are targeted with violence simply for being who they are. I supported strong hate crimes prosecutions as Illinois Attorney General, and I was proud to co-sponsor and vote for this critical legislation."
Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois is pleased that both Illinois senators strongly support the LGBT community. He observed that as Illinois Attorney General, Burris was there "a long time ago" with his staunch support of the Illinois hate crimes law.
The federal hate crimes law was passed in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and provides for protection for victims when local and state laws do not apply or exist. The new legislation extends the protection to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
"Once again, we have demonstrated that more than 60 Senators support the Matthew Shepard Act, legislation that will provide police and sheriffs' departments with the tools and resources they need to ensure that entire communities are not terrorized by hate violence," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "Today's key vote move(s) this legislation one step closer to the President's desk. With the support of an overwhelming majority of the American people, including more than 300 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations, it is past time we take this important step toward combating hate in our country."
Right wing groups had opposed the bill claiming that it trumped state's autonomy.
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