Wednesday, May 16, 2007

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 bill was passed by the House of Representatives on May 3. This bill will include sexual orientation and gender identity in its legislation. It is about time that the crimes committed against transgenders and transsexuals because of their gender identity is considered a hate crime. However, even if the bill is passed by the senate the President has already threatened to veto the bill. If the bill does go through and he does veto it, that would make it his third veto. The passing of this bill with no veto would be crucial to he LGBT community. Without it, heartless acts of violence will continue to happen to individuals that are transsexual. I personally think that this bill should include a lot more classifications of hate crimes. This issue is rather important to me and should be just as important to any of you. You never know, your friend could have a violent crime committed against them just because they like to dress in women's clothing, and the person who hurt your friend would only get a slap on the wrists. It is time for our Senate to get this bill through. Even if he vetoes it, they should overrule his so called judgement. Anybody against this bill should realize it is not a gay rights bill, it is a human rights bill. In the United Sates we are supposed to be free from persecution. It is time for anti-LGBT people to realize that WE ARE PEOPLE TOO!

What can we do: Write to our senators. Organize in your community or campus. Notify people what is going in senate and have them write too.

Question: Is it truly fair for some with gender issues to get attacked because of their gender identity, and nothing happen to the perpetrator?