2007 Hate Crimes Legislation - Contact Your Senator - National Gay & Lesbian Task Force

Contact Your Senators: Keep Hate Crimes Bill in DOD Authorization

Take action by sending a message saying that you support keeping the Hate Crimes bill in the Department of Defense authorization, and urge your senators to do the same.

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Dear (recipient name),

Dear Senator:

I urge you to retain the hate crimes language passed in the Senate-approved version of DOD authorization. This groundbreaking provision would be the first to provide federal protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Currently, LGBT people are not protected by federal hate crimes laws.

As you may know, LGBT people are particularly susceptible to hate crimes. According to the FBI, 15.5 percent of hate crimes in 2006 were motivated by a sexual orientation bias, a 1.5 percent increase over the previous year. This means that gay people, or people perceived to be gay, are disproportionately victims of these terrible crimes. The hate crimes amendment clearly includes crimes based on gender identity, which will help address the serious violence committed against transgender people. Anti-LGBT violence is nothing new and unfortunately continues to happen on a regular basis. We can all attest to how brutal hate violence can be from the tragic deaths of Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena, among many others.

In addition, although 21 states currently have hate crimes laws that include sexual orientation, only 11 states additionally include gender identity. There are 13 states that do not have any hate crimes laws on sexual orientation or gender identity making a federal hate crimes bill all the more important for LGBT people living in these states.

I urge you to support retaining the hate crimes provision in the final version of DOD authorization and final passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA).

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