For the third time since 1999, the U.S. Senate passed a hate crimes bill on June 15, 2004, that protects gay and lesbian citizens who are victimized by acts of anti-gay hatred.The measure, known as the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA), passed with a 65-33 bipartisan vote. It was approved as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2005.
If enacted, the LLEEA would add sexual orientation to federal hate crime laws.
Transgender groups have criticized the current version of the bill, saying it does not specifically protect victims of bias crimes based on gender identity or expression.
The bill must pass in the House and the conference committee process before going to the president.
Meanwhile, several cases of hate crimes due to sexual orientation or gender identity continue to highlight the need for such a federal law, particularly those of Trev Broudy, 33, an actor whose skull was fractured in West Hollywood, Calif., and Gwen Araujo, a transgender youth killed in Newark, Calif.
The legal term "hate crimes" refers to violent crimes that involve bias, and hate crimes perpetrators usually face harsher sentences than other criminals. Current federal hate crimes law covers only color, national origin, race, and religion. In 22 states and Washington D.C., sexual orientation is already a protected category. But roughly the same number of states exclude sexual orientation, and the remainder have no hate crimes laws at all.
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