Hate crimes
against gays made up 16% of total documented hate crimes
across the United States in 2006, up from 14% in 2005, the
FBI reported Monday.
Hate crimes
against gays made up 16% of total documented hate crimes
across the United States in 2006, up from 14% in 2005, the
FBI reported Monday.
The rate of all
bias-motivated crimes increased 8% in 2006. Hate crimes
based on sexual orientation are the third most common type,
behind race and religion, according to the annual
report.
In May the House
of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate
Crimes Prevention Act -- known as the Matthew Shepard Act
-- in a bipartisan vote, and the Senate approved
it as well. If enacted, the proposed law would
give the federal government expanded jurisdiction to
investigate and prosecute violent crimes based on a
person’s race, color, religion, or national
origin as well as their sexual orientation, gender
identity, gender, and disability. It also provides
assistance to local law enforcement to investigate and
prosecute bias-motivated violence, according to an
Human Rights Campaign press release. Existing federal
hate-crimes law covers only those based on a victim’s
race, color, religion, and national origin.
“This FBI
report confirms what the Human Rights Campaign has known for
over a decade -- that hate-crimes protections for the gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community are long
overdue,” HRC president Joe Solmonese said in a
statement. “We urge Congress to send this legislation
immediately to the president’s desk, and for the
president to sign it into law.” (The
Advocate)
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