Hate Crimes Bill to Be Reintroduced in Congress

May 23, 2005

WASHINGTON — A new attempt to pass legislation to make crimes of bias against members of the LGBT community a federal crime will be introduced in Congress this week.

The first attempt to pass a hate crime bill failed in 1994 and further attempts have died almost annually since then.

The last attempt failed in October. The measure was contained in a massive defense department bill as add ons. It was stripped out during conference, the procedure where different versions of bills in the House and Senate are rationalized for a final vote.

The bill had come under fire from transgender activists because it would not have included protections for transsexuals. The new legislation - for the first time - would cover the transgendered.

Transgender and gay Americans deserve the same clear protections against hate crimes as other Americans, said HRC President Joe Solmonese.

The bill will be submitted on Thursday. It has bipartisan support - its sponsors include Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-Fla., John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc.

In April a report released by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs showed violence against gays on the rise.

Overall, NCAVP's report noted a 4% increase in reported incidents of anti-LGBT violence. Such incidents rose from 1,720 in 2003 to 1,792 in 2004.

Included in the rise in incidents for the year, was an 11% increase in anti-LGBT murders, which rose from 18 in 2003 to 20 in 2004. During 2004, the total number of victims rose 4%, from 2,042 in 2003 to 2,131 in 2004.

According to a 2002 Human Rights Campaign-commissioned poll, two-thirds of voters favor having hate crime laws that cover transgender people.

The public support is there, said Solmonese. Congress should act swiftly to ensure local law enforcement agencies have the tools they need from the federal government to combat hate crimes against the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.