"More than 77,000 hate-crime incidents were reported by the FBI between 1998 and 2007, or nearly one hate crime for every hour of every day over the span of a decade. The FBI reported 7,624 hate-crime incidents in 2007." -Mr Holder to the Senate Judiciary Committee in June
On October 27, 2009 the Senate passed legislation that would make it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. This is being added to the Hate Crimes Bill already on the books.
President Obama has pledged to sign the measure.
President George W. Bush threatened to veto a similar measure. There is no surprise there. George W. <"you can call me George, cause I can't spell W-ya"> had the opportunity as the leader of a great nation to stop HATE. He didn't, shame on y
ou!My heart goes out to the families of Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming teenager who died after being kidnapped and severely beaten, tied to a split-rail fence and left to die over night, 18 hours later he was found.
..and to the family of James Byrd, Jr., a man of color, of Jasper ,Texas. Three men beat Byrd, strip him naked, chain him by the ankles to their pickup truck and dragged him for three miles over rural roads.If you have the stomach to read what happened to these men due to the actions of individuals who HATE visit the timeline page at www.hrc.org/sites/loveconquershate/timeline.asp
For all of those in the House and Senate that voted against this measure, I do hope all the Grandparents, Mom and Dads', Sisters and Brothers, Aunts and Uncles, Cousins and Friends remember this at the voting booths. They will, Matthew and James' spirits will make sure of it! May you both now rest-in-peace.
Love Conquers Hate! We are moving in the right direction America!
PEACE!
..beautiful....
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