Obama Signs Federal Hate Crime Bill into Law

Last week President Obama signed a hate crime law that makes it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

The law was named in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay teenager who was infamously kidnapped, severely beaten, and killed in 1998, and for James Byrd Jr., an African-American man who was dragged to death the same year.

Obama called the bill another step in the continuing struggle for protecting human rights, noting there have been more than 12,000 crimes based on sexual orientation during the last decade.

While the bill has been met by high praise from human rights advocates, several religious groups are concerned the law will criminalize conservative speeches making a stance against homosexuality.  However, Attorney General Eric Holder maintains that the federal hate crime law will only be used to prosecute those who commit violent acts based on bias, not those who give a speech.

Despite the signing of the bill, Obama said this is just the first in a series of significant changes that must be made to ensure equal rights for all gays and lesbians.

According to Holder, more than 77,000 hate crimes were reported by the FBI between 1998 and 2007, essentially one hate crime for every hour of every day of the last ten years.

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