WASHINGTON – AAUW today celebrates House and Senate passage of landmark hate crimes prevention legislation that had been more than a decade in the making.
AAUW led the efforts of women's organizations to pass the bill, working with a coalition of more than 100 groups to finally see the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act sent to the president's desk. The measure was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 conference report.
"After years of working for stronger federal enforcement and prosecution of hate crimes against women and other groups, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act will finally become law," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. "This law is an important milestone in the fight against all forms of intolerance in our country, and it provides necessary tools to law enforcement at a critical time."
The hate crimes provision strengthens a federal law that was enacted in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to address violence based on race, ethnicity, and religion. The legislation adds actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, and disability to the list of bias-motivated crimes.
AAUW has long supported this expansion of hate crimes prevention law. In April, the House of Representatives approved its version of the legislation with the passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1913). The Senate included the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the defense authorization bill in July.
"AAUW members have long provided a key voice in the debate to expand hate crimes law," said Lisa Maatz, AAUW director of public policy and government relations. "Their steadfast support of the measure — particularly the work of the AAUW Action Fund's Capitol Hill Lobby Corps — has paid off in breaking through yet another barrier."
Matthew Shepard, the University of Wyoming college student who died on October 12, 1998, after a vicious attack, was targeted because he was gay. His murder highlighted the need for stronger law enforcement measures.
"AAUW strongly urges President Barack Obama to sign the defense bill, and thus the hate crimes measure, with all due haste," said Hallman.
