Monday, October 1, 2007

US Senate Passes Matthew Shepard Act

On 27 September, the US Senate voted 60 to 39 in favour of expanding Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act to include protection for LGBT People against hate crimes. The Matthew Shepard Act, named for a victim of homophobia, comes as an amendment to the 2008 Department of Defense authorization bill.

George Bush might still oppose his veto to the new law as he deams hate crime legislation for the LGBT community unnecessary, despite FBI estimates that sexual orientation bias motivated 14% of hate crimes in 2005.

* Senate Extends Protections to Gays, Lesbians in Hate Crimes Act - ABC News
* US Senate passes gay hate crimes law - PinkNews.co.uk
* Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 - Wikipedia
* Matthew Shepard - Wikipedia

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