HATE
CRIMES
LEGISLATION
passed
the
House
of
Representatives
on
May
3.
The
Democrats
deserve
our
thanks.
It
included
not
only
the
words
sexual
orientation
but
also
gender
identity
as
a
protected
class.
I
applaud
this
as
a
real
step
forward.
I
know
that
Human
Rights
Campaign
President
Joe
Solmonese
and
Judy
Shepard,
along
with
congressional
supporters
and
leaders
like
Barney
Frank,
Tammy
Baldwin
and
Steny
Hoyer
worked
hard
that
day,
and
for
many
years,
to
pass
this
legislation.
But
there
is
another
story
here.
On
the
eve
of
the
House
taking
up
the
Hate
Crimes
Prevention
Act
it
appeared
that
passage
was
not
assured
in
this
form.
Republicans
thought
they
figured
out
a
way
to
strip
the
bill
of
the
term
“gender
identity”
and
just
the
possibility
of
this
appeared
to
leave
our
national
gay
organizations
in
a
tizzy.
The
debate
at
HRC
was
if
“gender
identity”
was
left
out
of
the
bill,
should
the
organization
withdraw
its
support?
When
I
heard
this
I
was
amazed.
Could
all
of
our
national
organizations
—
HRC,
National
Gay
&
Lesbian
Task
Force
and
Parents,
Families
&
Friends
of
Lesbians
&
Gays
(although
they
seem
to
have
disappeared
from
the
national
scene
in
the
last
few
years)
—
that
have
been
fighting
for
this
bill
for
nearly
10
years
actually
say
no
to
hate
crimes
protections
for
30
million
gays
and
lesbians
in
the
nation,
if
we
use
the
10
percent
figure,
because
transgender
individuals
were
not
in
the
bill?
Will
we
see
ENDA
defeated
for
the
same
reason?
We
knew
that
inclusion
of
transgender
protections
would
potentially
be
a
non-starter.
Actually,
when
this
bill
was
first
proposed
it
did
not
include
trans
people.
They
were
not
even
part
of
the
discussion.
As
this
moved
forward
over
the
years
our
main
proponent
in
the
House,
Barney
Frank,
told
us
it
may
never
go
through
with
transgender
protections
included.
Sen.
Ted
Kennedy
(D-Mass.)
told
us
the
same
thing.
When
the
boards
of
our
national
organizations
adopted
policies
of
transgender
inclusion
or
nothing
it
was
easy,
nothing
was
happening
in
Congress.
But
over
the
years
this
discussion
has
never
really
taken
place
in
our
community.
It
was
discussed
only
in
the
boardrooms
and
back
rooms
of
our
national
organizations.
THE
DECISION
ON
issues
like
this
doesn’t
appear
to
come
from
the
community
but
from
the
few
people
who
have
big
pockets,
give
great
amounts
of
money
to
these
organizations
and
sit
on
their
boards.
I
am
100
percent
for
including
transgender
people
in
every
protection
we
fight
for
and
I
think
that
our
national
organizations
must
take
up
the
cause
of
transgender
rights
as
a
matter
of
course.
But
if
we
can’t
get
everything
we
want
at
once,
then
we
as
a
community
need
to
be
realistic
and
accept
moving
incrementally.
CIVIL
AND
HUMAN
rights
aren’t
won
in
an
all-or-nothing
proposition
as
we
have
seen
in
the
fight
for
the
rights
of
women
and
African
Americans.
These
are
long-term
fights
and
you
win
some
and
lose
some
until
incrementally
you
gain
full
rights.
It
is
often
a
matter
of
educating
new
generations
to
reality
and
to
what
is
right.
The
issue
I
would
have
had
with
HRC
and
the
Task
Force
removing
their
support
from
the
Hate
Crimes
Bill
if
it
passed
the
House
without
“gender
identity”
was
that
we
would
be
telling
our
supporters
in
the
Senate
that
if
it
doesn’t
include
these
words
they
should
vote
against
it.
I
can’t
imagine
telling
staunch
supporters
like
Ted
Kennedy,
Hillary
Clinton,
Harry
Reid
and
others
to
vote
against
the
Matthew
Shepard
Hate
Crimes
Bill,
as
the
Senate
has
named
it,
or
potentially
ENDA,
if
they
only
have
protections
for
30
million
gays
and
lesbians.
Again,
what
have
we
been
fighting
for
these
last
10
years?
Why
have
we
been
giving
money
to
these
organizations
if
not
to
make
headway
in
gaining
us
rights
and
protections?
Gaining
the
civil
and
human
rights
and
the
protections
that
our
entire
community
deserves
is
still
a
long
and
messy
fight.
It
will
require
us
to
stand
with
each
other
and
support
each
other.
But
it
may
also
take
compromise
along
the
way
to
make
incremental
progress,
along
with
a
strong
commitment
to
work
together
until
we
are
all
safe
and
free
to
live
our
lives
to
the
fullest.
