News :: GLBT
President Barack Obama signs hate crimes legislation into lawWednesday Oct 28, 2009 Twenty-nine of the nation’s leading LGBT rights organizations released a statement on the afternoon of Oct. 28 applauding President Barack Obama for signing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. The new law offers protections for members of the LGBT community against hate crimes.
"It took much too long, more than a decade," the statement read. "And it came at too great a price: the brutal killings of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. are just two among the thousands of crimes motivated by hate and bigotry."
Matthew Shepard was targeted, tortured, and murdered in 1998 at age 21 near Laramie, Wyoming, for being gay. James Byrd, Jr., 49, was lynched after being dragged for three miles behind a pick-up truck in Jasper, Texas, also in 1998, because he was black.
"This week, the president put pen to paper and fulfilled a campaign promise, the signing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, extending the federal hate crimes statute to include sexual orientation and gender identity along with race, religion, gender, national origin and disability. Our deepest hope and strong belief is that this new law will save lives," the statement read. "Now, lawmakers and the president have made an imperative statement to the country and the world: Our nation will no longer tolerate hate-motivated violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people."
The statement was signed by representatives of Pride at Work, Centerlink: The Community of LGBT Centers, the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, DignityUSA, the Equality Federation, the Family Equality Council, Freedom to Marry, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the Human Rights Campaign, Immigration Equality, the International Federation of Black Prides, Lambda Legal, the National Lesbian Health Organization, National Black Justice Coalition, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, the National Minority AIDS Council, the National Stonewall Democrats, the National Youth Advocacy Coalition, the New York Anti-Violence Project, PFLAG National, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders, and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
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