Obama to sign Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill on Wednesday

[andy]

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/barackobama.jpg[/img2]US president Barack Obama will reportedly sign a bill giving gays new protections from hate crime.

The bill is nicknamed the Matthew Shepard Bill, after the gay Wyoming teenager who was murdered in 1998. It was passed by the Senate 68 votes to 29 last week.

It will expand federal hate crime laws to include crimes where the victims were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability.

The bill is attached to the Department of Defence reauthorisation bill, a bill to provide new F-22 fighter jets.

According to ABC News, Obama will sign the bill into law tomorrow.

It is thought that members of Shepard's family will attend the signing at the White House and a reception with gay rights campaigners will follow.

[fredv3b]

I hate to be such a cynic, but Obama gets credit for making that which was already a crime, still a crime, all the while improvements in actual gay rights seem to be on hold. Some strong words on Washington and Maine might be nice.

[mikey12561]

I would have to agree with fred. Yeah he made a law or what not to protect against hate crimes which were already crimes in the first place but what about marriage. What about us being able to have the sucnificant meaning between to people.

[fredv3b]

I think that it is very interesting that Obama has never tried to justify why he thinks that Marriage is should only between a man and a woman beyond 'God is in the mix'. He is a clearly eloquent, intelligent, thoughtful and a, former, member of the faculty of Law at the University of Chicago. He gives proper justifications for his views on other things, why not gay marriage?