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LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, August 22, 2008
Democratic
presidential
candidate
Sen.
Barack
Obama
(D-Ill.)
is
challenging
his
Republican
rival,
Sen.
John
McCain
(R-Ariz.),
to
end
his
opposition
to
a
federal
hate
crimes
bill
following
reports
of
a
recent
surge
in
anti-gay
and
anti-transgender
hate
crimes.
In
a
conference
call
Monday,
an
official
with
the
Obama
campaign’s
Lesbian,
Gay,
Bisexual
and
Transgender
Steering
Committee
noted
that
Obama
is
a
strong
supporter
of
the
Matthew
Shepard
National
Law
Enforcement
Hate
Crimes
Prevention
Act
while
McCain
opposes
the
legislation.
“We
feel
it’s
important
to
point
out
the
stark
contrast
between
Sen.
Obama
and
Sen.
McCain
on
this
issue,”
said
Matt
Nosanchuk,
an
official
with
the
Obama
LGBT
Steering
and
Policy
Committee.
“In
Sen.
Obama’s
vision
for
America,
there
is
no
place
for
hate
crimes,”
Nosanchuk
said.
A
McCain
campaign
spokesperson
did
not
respond
to
a
request
for
comment
by
press
time.
The
Matthew
Shepard
hate
crimes
measure,
named
after
the
gay
University
of
Wyoming
student
who
was
murdered
in
an
anti-gay
attack
in
1998,
would
authorize
the
federal
government
to
prosecute
hate
crimes
based
on
a
victim’s
sexual
orientation,
gender
identity,
gender
or
disability.
McCain
voted
against
an
earlier
version
of
the
Shepard
bill,
but
did
not
show
up
for
the
vote
when
the
Senate
approved
it
in
September,
60-39,
as
an
amendment
to
the
Defense
Authorization
Act.
The
House
voted
237
to
180
to
approve
the
Shepard
measure
as
a
freestanding
bill
in
May
2007.
But
the
bill
died
in
December
when
the
House
refused
to
accept
the
Senate’s
version
of
the
bill
as
an
amendment
to
the
defense
authorization
measure.
Rep.
Barney
Frank
(D-Mass.),
a
lead
sponsor
of
the
bill
in
the
House,
has
called
on
the
Senate
to
pass
the
measure
this
year
as
a
freestanding
bill
since
the
House-approved
version
carries
over
into
the
second
half
of
the
110th
Congress
in
2008.
Senate
Democratic
leaders,
however,
have
yet
to
schedule
a
vote
on
the
bill.
A
spokesperson
for
Senate
Majority
Leader
Harry
Reid
(D-Nev.)
could
not
be
reached
by
press
time
to
determine
whether
the
Senate
plans
to
vote
on
the
Shepard
bill
during
the
Senate’s
remaining
weeks
in
session
this
year.
Rep.
John
Conyers
(D-Mich.),
who
participated
in
Monday’s
conference
call,
said
the
inability
of
Congress
to
pass
the
bill
last
year
was
due
largely
to
President
Bush’s
opposition
to
the
measure.
The
White
House
last
year
said
Bush
would
veto
the
bill
if
it
reached
his
desk,
even
if
it
was
attached
to
the
defense
authorization
act.
Gay
activists,
meanwhile,
have
said
there’s
a
growing
need
for
Congress
to
pass
the
Shepard
bill.
Sharon
Stapel,
executive
director
of
the
New
York
City
Anti-Violence
Project,
which
monitors
anti-gay
and
anti-transgender
violence
throughout
the
country,
said
a
sharp
increase
in
hate
crimes
against
gays
and
trans
people
seen
in
June
and
July
appears
to
be
continuing
in
August.
Stapel
and
Avy
Skolnik,
who
heads
the
National
Coalition
of
Anti-Violence
Programs,
which
is
affiliated
with
the
New
York
group,
said
recent
incidents
of
anti-gay
and
anti-trans
violence
have
occurred
in
at
least
seven
states,
including
New
York,
Colorado,
Texas,
Tennessee
and
Ohio.
Damien
Skipper,
brother
of
Ryan
Skipper,
a
gay
man
who
was
attacked
and
murdered
at
age
25
during
a
2007
hate
crime
in
Polk
County,
Fla.,
said
during
the
conference
call
that
Obama’s
support
for
hate
crimes
legislation
is
among
the
reasons
his
family
is
supporting
Obama
for
president.
“I
look
at
Barack
Obama
and
see
that
he
has
the
same
opportunity
to
do
what
past
presidents
did
on
civil
rights
for
other
minorities,”
he
said.
Some
gay
activists
have
expressed
concern
that
Democrats,
including
Obama,
haven’t
kept
their
commitment
to
enact
important
gay
rights
legislation,
including
the
hate
crimes
bill,
since
they
gained
control
of
Congress
in
January
2007.
But
Becky
Dansky,
federal
legislative
director
of
the
National
Gay
&
Lesbian
Task
Force,
said
the
passage
of
the
Shepard
hate
crimes
bill
last
year
in
separate
votes
in
the
House
and
Senate
indicates
Democratic
leaders
in
both
chambers
sought
to
carry
out
their
commitment
to
the
legislation.
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