It has been a long time coming, but federal lawmakers finally seem poised to expand federal hate-crimes legislation to cover victims targeted because of their sexual orientation.
The measure cleared the House last week, and the action now moves to the Senate, where we hope the bill will be expeditiously passed.
Today, the 11th anniversary of the beating death of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, is an appropriate time to reflect on the important protections the legislation would extend to gays, lesbians and transgender people.
Currently, federal law defines hate crimes as those in which the motive involves the victim’s race, religion or national origin.
The expansion of hate crimes would give federal prosecutors authority to pursue anti-gay violent crimes when local authorities are unwilling or unable to act. It also provides grants to help locals investigate such crimes.
The move to expand the law was fueled by the beating death of Shepard, who was robbed, pistol-whipped and left tied to a fence, targeted at least in part because he was gay and seemed an easy mark.
Recently, convicted killer Aaron McKinney reportedly told an interviewer: “The night I did it, I did have hatred for homosexuals.”
All violent crimes are reprehensible, but hate crimes ripple through communities, sending a message of fear to others in the targeted group.
The death of Matthew Shepard 11 years ago has galvanized gay-rights activists and others who believe such depravity deserves special recognition in the law. The time has come to make it so.
