Hate crimes bill passes Senate, goes to Obama
Thu. October 22, 2009 12:00 AM by ChicagoPride.com News Staff
President Obama pledges to sign the bill
Washington, D.C. -
The U.S. Senate voted 68-29 to approve groundbreaking and historic legislation that will expand the scope of federal hate-crimes law. The legislation is tucked inside a must-pass defense bill, a move that rankled some Republicans.
The legislation is also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, was killed in 1998 by two men he met in a gay bar. He was beaten and left to die shackled to a post along a rural road near Laramie.
Earlier in the month, members of the House of Representatives approved the legislation with overwhelming support.
The president devoted a good amount of an early October speech to gay rights group the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to the bill and has pledged to sign the measure.
"In May, I met with Judy Shepard – who's here tonight with her husband – I met her in the Oval Office, and I promised her that we were going to pass an inclusive hate crimes bill – a bill named for her son," he said during the HRC event.
President George W. Bush had threatened to veto a similar measure.
Both Illinois Senators, Richard Durbin (D) and Roland Burris (D) supported the bill.
OnTopMagazine.com contributed to this report.
The legislation is also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, was killed in 1998 by two men he met in a gay bar. He was beaten and left to die shackled to a post along a rural road near Laramie.
Earlier in the month, members of the House of Representatives approved the legislation with overwhelming support.
The president devoted a good amount of an early October speech to gay rights group the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to the bill and has pledged to sign the measure.
"In May, I met with Judy Shepard – who's here tonight with her husband – I met her in the Oval Office, and I promised her that we were going to pass an inclusive hate crimes bill – a bill named for her son," he said during the HRC event.
President George W. Bush had threatened to veto a similar measure.
Both Illinois Senators, Richard Durbin (D) and Roland Burris (D) supported the bill.
OnTopMagazine.com contributed to this report.