 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | September 2005 
US House Backs Hate Crime Measure Protecting Gays
 Joanne Kenen - Reuters
| | Bethany Winkels (L), a gay marriage supporter, smiles as she is confronted by an unidentified woman in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo: Jessica Rinaldi) |
Washington - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday unexpectedly backed a measure to expand federal hate crime protection to gay people, a measure that House conservatives had blocked for years.
The Senate has passed similar legislation, which also expanded protections for the disabled, several times in recent years but House conservatives had argued that these cases should be dealt with on a local or state level without additional federal intervention.
This time the hate crime measure was attached to a bipartisan bill known as the Children's Safety Act aimed at tightening reporting requirements for child sex offenders. Companion legislation has not yet moved through the Senate, so the ultimate fate of the gay protection provision is uncertain.
Still backers were jubilant.
"Every American child deserves the strongest protections from some of this country's most horrifying crimes," said Judy Shepard, a member of the Human Rights Campaign board. The fatal beating of her gay son, Matthew Shepard, in Wyoming in 1998 gave impetus to the legislation.
"It is a fantastic and welcome development," said Michael Lieberman of the Anti-Defamation League, which has been pushing for such legislation for several years.
The Children's Safety Act requires sex offenders to verify their residence and employment with authorities every month and mandates in-person verification with authorities every six months. It also improves coordination among states when offenders move.
"There are over 100,000 sex offenders who have failed to register in communities as they are required to do under existing law," said co-sponsor Rep. Melissa Hart, a Pennsylvania Republican.
"They are currently living and working in our communities, many could be residing near schools or playgrounds," she added.
The bill also includes a pilot program to allow electronic monitoring of sexual predators, and it also strengthens background check requirements for foster and adoptive parents.
The White House backs the underlying child safety bill, and said in a statement that it "provides a strong, comprehensive approach to addressing crimes, especially sex crimes, against children."
The hate crimes amendment would expand existing federal hate crime program to add sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to federal hate crime laws. It would give grants to the states to help prosecute such crimes.
Backers of the legislation, a top priority for gay rights and disabled advocacy groups, have been trying to enact it since at least 1998, when the gaps in existing law were highlighted by two heinous crimes -- the dragging death of a black man named James Byrd in Texas and the death of Shepard. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us