One Down, Three to Go

Yesterday, Congress passed the hate crimes act with a final vote in the Senate, and the President has repeatedly pledged to sign it into law.  According to the Human Rights Campaign,

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act gives the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

It provides the Justice Department with the ability to aid state and local jurisdictions either by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of violent crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury that were motivated by bias. It also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes.

This legislation was first introduced in the 105th Congress. Today’s vote was the 14th and final time there has been a floor vote on this historic legislation.

This is a historic moment; the first of the four big hurdles has been crossed.  Now on to ENDA, DADT, and DOMA.

Take a minute to check out these videos from HRC's new site, Love Conquers Hate.  They're pretty moving; share 'em around, might touch a few people's hearts that haven't been reached before.