For over a decade our community has worked tirelessly to ensure protections to combat violence motivated by hate and today we are the closest we have ever been to seeing that become a reality. Congress has taken an historic step forward and moved our country closer to the realization that all Americans, including the GLBT community, are part of the fabric
of our nation. The new leadership in Congress fully understands that for too long our community has been terrorized by hate violence. And today, the US Senate has sent a clear message to every corner of our country that we will no longer turn a blind eye to anti-gay violence in America.
---Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solomonese
This morning, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) successfully invoked cloture, resulting in the Senate's passage of S. 1105, the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, by a 60-39 vote, as an amendment to the pending Defense Reauthorization bill.
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Originally published on Thursday September 27, 2007.
