Gay Community Scores House Win

It's tough to come up with something witty and pithy to say about some good news that is quite serious -- and long overdue.

But suffice to say I was pleased and relieved to learn that the gay community scored a big victory in Congress Thursday when the House passed a bill that in part deems violence against the LGBT community a federal hate crime. The vote expands the current hate crime law, which already protects crimes motivated by race or religion.

"It's a very exciting day for us here in the Capitol," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Associated Press, saying hate crimes legislation was on her agenda when she first entered Congress 22 years ago.

The gay community has been pushing for the legislation change for more than a decade, spurred in part by the beating death of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shephard 11 years ago.

In typical Congressional fashion, the legislation is part of a larger piece of legislation that lays out a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill. The House passed the defense bill 281-146, with 15 Democrats and 131 Republicans in opposition. The Senate is expected to pass the bill, which newly-minted Nobel Peace Prize winner President Barack Obama supports.

Openly gay Colorado Rep. Jared Polis opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but voted for the entire bill anyway because he felt so strongly that the LGBT community needed federal hate crime protection. He told the AP hate crimes "are not just crimes against individuals, they are crimes against entire communities and create environments of fear in entire communities."

Once the bill is signed into law it would allow federal prosecutors to step in when a hate crime allegedly motivated by sexual orientation is committed.

It's about time.

Photo courtesy of Theodoranian via Wikimedia Commons.